Following the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, there has been a noticeable increase in reports of Kashmiri people facing assaults across the country. In one such disturbing incident, 16 Kashmiri shawl vendors left Mussoorie after two of their fellow traders were allegedly attacked by locals.

After two Kashmiri shawl vendors were allegedly assaulted by locals in Mussoorie on April 23, at least 16 traders from the region have returned to Kashmir, police confirmed. The incident has led to the arrest of three individuals.

The accused Suraj Singh from Post Kempty (Tehri Garhwal), Pradeep Singh from Hathipaon (Mussoorie), and Abhishek Uniyal from Company Garden (Mussoorie) have been booked under applicable sections of the Police Act, and legal action is underway. The three have also publicly apologised and assured authorities such behaviour won’t be repeated.

According to Mussoorie police, the assault happened on Mall Road, where a group of locals allegedly confronted two Kashmiri vendors selling shawls and clothes, demanded their identification, and told them to leave the area. A video of the attack, which has gone viral, shows the group abusing and physically attacking the vendors.

Shabir Ahmed Dar, one of the vendors from Kupwara, said he and other traders have been visiting Mussoorie in summer and Dehradun in winter for 18 years. “We live near the mosque and are familiar with many people here. The men who attacked us were locals who’ve seen us before. Still, no one stepped in to help. In Kashmir, many outsiders work, and we’ve never mistreated anyone,” said Dar, 36.

He added that police visited their accommodation around 11 pm that night. “They said they couldn’t ensure our safety, especially after recent threats to Kashmiris following the Pahalgam incident. They advised us to leave. I called my brother in Kashmir, who contacted a senior officer in our district. He spoke to Mussoorie police, but they said they couldn’t be held responsible if anything happened to us. That made us fearful, and we decided to leave immediately,” Dar said.

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Nasir Khuehami, National Convenor of the J&K Students Association, shared the disturbing video on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), tagging Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, J&K leader Omar Abdullah, and Home Minister Amit Shah, urging them to step in.

Police later clarified they did not ask all vendors to leave—only those who had not completed local registration or police verification. Authorities in Dehradun have recently begun a verification drive for tenants, shopkeepers, and vendors from outside the state.

As reported by The Indian Express, Dar and 15 others left for Dehradun that same night, boarded a bus to Jammu, and reached Kashmir the next day. “Punish those who attacked us, not us. This is our livelihood,” Dar said.

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Javed Ahmed, 30, who lived with Dar, said they were forced to leave behind merchandise worth nearly ₹12 lakh. “We don’t know when we’ll be able to come back. Our fathers sold shawls here too, and they never faced anything like this,” he said.