Leader of hardline Hindu group in India defends beating of Kashmiris

Saturday, 9 March 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

NEW DELHI (Reuters): The leader of a hardline Hindu group in India on Thursday justified the beating of two street vendors from mostly Muslim Kashmir by his members, saying “suspicious” Kashmiris had to be watched after a deadly bombing in the disputed region.

The assault on the fruit sellers by the saffron-shirted activists has been widely condemned in the Hindu-majority country where the Feb. 14 killing in Kashmir of 40 paramilitary policemen by a young suicide bomber has stirred patriotic anger and calls for war with Muslim Pakistan.

A Pakistan-based Islamist group claimed responsibility for the bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan, which like India claims Kashmir in its entirely, denied involvement.

While the nuclear-armed Indian and Pakistani militaries have clashed along their disputed border, many ordinary Indians have turned their anger on Kashmiris, who live throughout the country.

The fruit vendors were attacked in the northern city of Lucknow on Wednesday.

But what might have been just another altercation in a series of such incidents in recent days hit the headlines when the assailants, who slapped and hit the two men with a wooden stick, posted video of it on social media.

The attackers were members of the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Dal (VHD) group and their leader was unapologetic.

“Yes, my workers beat them. After the attack on our army men with the help of Kashmiri jihadis, there is anger among the public,” the group’s president, Ambuj Nigam, told Reuters by telephone from Lucknow.

“The Kashmiris pelt stones at our soldiers and wave the Pakistani flag. Why should we tolerate that?”

Indian forces have faced a separatist insurgency in the Himalayan region for decades and protesters often clash with the police and troops.