Kashmiri vendor harassed in Yamunanagar village, sarpanch slams act, warns youth

Yamunanagar: A Kashmiri street vendor was harassed by a local in Kalawar village of Yamunanagar district, forcing him to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and ‘Jai Shri Ram'. However, the Kashmiri vendor did not chant as asked, but he said, "Bharat Ki Jai".The incident took place on Sunday, when two Kashmiri vendors were roaming in Kalawar streets to sell their products. A video of the incident went viral on social media, which received condemnation from netizens, who commented that those working hard for their livelihood should not be harassed in such a manner.
The Kalawar village resident who harassed the vendor was identified as Kala. In the video, Kala is heard asking the vendor, "You will have to say Jai Shri Ram." The Kashmiri vendor replies, "I will not say so." Kala replies, "All of you shall then leave the village immediately by sitting in tempo (auto)." The vendor replies, "Why shall we call them? There should be no coercion." Kala then threatens the vendor, "You should not be seen in the village again. If you are seen again, I will prepare 10 more youths, then we will snatch your clothes." Kala said, "You are living in Hindustan and eating here and still you do not say Jai Shri Ram." The Kashmiri vendor replies, "Why shall I say so? We have our own religions. If I ask you to say the Qalma, will you do so?" Kala replies, "We will do everything if we do this work. But when we are not doing this work and staying at our home, why should we say so? Why are you not saying Bharat Mata Ki Jai?" The Kashmiri vendor replies, "We can say Bharat Ki Jai; why should we not say so? But we will not speak Mata. We were coming to this village for three years; listen to me for a while. We love Bharat and we are Bharatiya. No one can say that we are not Bharatiyas." Kalawar villager sarpanch Monika Devi's husband, Ashok Kumar, also condemned the incident as unfortunate and said the village youth was warned not to indulge in such activities again. "Kala's parents also reprimanded him for committing such an act. Kala is unmarried and works as a truck driver. He is also a gau rakshak. This is the first such incident in our village. The brotherhood and environment in our village is peaceful, and all communities live in our village. We have over 500 Muslim voters," said Ashok."We have a board installed at the entry of our village that every street vendor who comes to sell something should show their Aadhar card after visiting the sarpanch's residence and take permission. We did not see the identity of the concerned street vendor, and neither did they have any permission to sell products in the village, as it is mandatory as per the decision of the village panchayat," said Ashok.