Lucknow: Kashmiri street vendors thrashed, one arrested

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Mar 7 (ANI):  Two kashmiri">Kashmiri vendors of dry fruit were thrashed by several men wearing saffron shirts on a busy road in Lucknow on Wednesday.  Lucknow police have arrested one person in connection with this incident on Thursday.
A video of the incident which occurred in the Daliganj area that surfaced online and has been shared widely shows some men dressed in saffron kurtas beating a vendor with a long stick. After receiving a few blows the man manages to free himself from the attackers.
Another vendor is seen collecting his things while being slapped and hit by one of the men. He is prevented from further assault after intervention by a few locals who reportedly called the police.
Taking cognizance of the incident, Lucknow police has arrested a man seen in the viral video.
According to sources, the attackers belong to a new Hindutva outfit.
Meanwhile, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah also tweeted about the incident and demanded action in the matter.
"Dear PM @narendramodi Sahib, this is what you had spoken against and yet it continues unabated. This is the state governed by your handpicked Chief Minister. Can we expect action in this case or do we file your concern and assurances as a jumla, meant to placate but nothing more?" wrote Abdullah.
More details of the incident are awaited.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the chief secretaries and the directors general of police of all state and Union territories to take strong and necessary measures to prevent attacks on kashmiri">Kashmiris and other minorities in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror strike.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna issued notices to the Centre and 10 state governments seeking their response in connection with a plea on the issue.
The petition was filed by advocate Tariq Adeeb and according to the plea, kashmiri">Kashmiri students had to lock themselves up in order to remain safe as mob violence erupted in Dehradun in Uttarakhand after the terror attack in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14. (ANI)