As hate incidents go up, their trade dwindles, but livelihood challenges compel them to move out of Kashmir and grapple with the horrors of abuse and attacks in India’s capital city.
Haseeb Ibn Hameed
The morning fog is beginning to subside, and people are rushing to attend to their daily businesses. Amidst this low humdrum of the morning, a murmuring is heard. About 50 Kashmiri handicraft street vendors, coming from a narrow street adjacent to Golcha Cinema in New Delhi, walk to the bus stop in small groups.
The men in every group bid adieu to each other and disperse to sell their merchandise across different places in the national capital.
This is a daily ritual they have undergone for decades every winter. The only difference is that now when they part, there is a prayer on their lips – a prayer for their safe return and meeting again in the evening at the same spot.
“Our concerns earlier were making good sales and protecting ourselves from robbers. But now, with the increasing anti-Muslim hate speeches and spiralling cases of attacks on Kashmiris, especially street vendors, safety concerns take a prime place in our minds,” the street vendors say.
Two decades back when Ghulam Nabi first came to Delhi with his father, he saw an opportunity to give a new direction to his life, which was marred by the conflict back home. He hadn’t anticipated the turn this journey would take, he recalls.
What was once a respectable and profitable trade, has now become a potential reason for the constant threat to their life and their wares.
“We received considerable respect and brotherly love earlier, but the atmosphere started to become hostile after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014. Since then, hate and stereotypes have taken over,” says 48-year-old Nabi.
As the valley comes under the grip of bitter winters, handicraft street vendors from Kashmir travel to different parts of India to earn their livelihood, starting in the month of November and returning in March.
Restricted Movement
But unlike earlier when the street vendors who came to Delhi roamed wherever they thought of selling their goods, they now restrict themselves to only the Muslim-dominated areas or those they are well acquainted with, they say.
Citing the dominance of various right-wing groups across many places in Delhi NCR, street vendors say they prefer not to hawk through those places.
“The right-wing groups seem to be ever ready to assault us, and by the time we can talk ourselves out of the situation, we could be lynched to death,” the street vendors say.
“We only go beyond the borders of Delhi like Noida and Haryana when a customer of ours calls us, else we only prefer to hawk through Old and New Delhi,” said around a dozen hawkers Kashmir Times spoke to.
“Every time we hear about incidents like these, our minds and hearts are filled with fear, and we are discouraged to go out and do business,” the street vendors say.
A rising pattern
While targeted attacks on Kashmiris residing outside Jammu and Kashmir have been reported since 2014, the trend has phenomenally grown. Most cases were reported after the Pulwama attack in 2019 when at least 40 Indian soldiers were killed in a suicide attack.
Following the attack, newsrooms of several Indian media houses turned into war rooms, where hate was spewed against Kashmiris and the rhetoric of vengeance was all-pervasive.
This was followed by several targeted attacks on Kashmiri street vendors and students residing in different parts of India including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
“Weeks and months that followed the Pulwama attack were troubling. Waves of angry mobs shouting anti-Kashmiri and anti-Muslim slogans instilled fear in us,” said Gul Mohammad Mir, a 71-year-old street vendor from south Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
But the attacks haven’t stopped. Instead, a pattern has been reported, particularly increasing when India is playing Pakistan in cricket, a Kashmiri trader has set up a stall at a Hindu festival, or a Kashmiri student has refused to raise pro-India slogans. Several media reports have unraveled incidents where Kashmiris have been thrashed on one pretext or the other.
The recent reported cases of a woman spewing hate against Kashmiri handicraft street vendors in north India’s Himachal Pradesh and a Kashmiri vendor being thrashed by a mob at the Geeta Jayanti Fair in Kurukshetra, Haryana have only fuelled the fears of street vendors in Delhi.
“Every time we hear about incidents like these, our minds and hearts are filled with fear, and we are discouraged to go out and do business,” the street vendors say.
“Last year, we were hawking through the streets of Malviya Nagar when a group of men donning saffron scarves used slurs and accused us of being terrorists. As the matter heated up, they beat up one of the street vendors and then let loose their dogs on us. To this date, we don’t know how we made it alive from that scene.”
“Thar Thar haez cha wathaan (these events send shivers down our spine),” says Gul Mohammad Mir, his brows furrowed and eyes frozen in a vacant stare. His face carries a raw, vulnerable intensity that speaks of inner turmoil and despair.
Although the ruling party in Jammu and Kashmir condemned the assault, it has largely been unable to ensure the safety of Kashmiris studying or working outside Jammu and Kashmir.
Unreported incidents
“Tell him about the Malviya Nagar incident,” one street vendor says to another.
“You tell him, I am too sensitive to recall that,” he replies.
They look at each other and then Nazir Ahmad, 45, begins to narrate the memory: “Last year, we were hawking through the streets of Malviya Nagar when a group of men donning saffron scarves used slurs and accused us of being terrorists. As the matter heated up, they beat up one of the street vendors and then let loose their dogs on us. To this date, we don’t know how we made it alive from that scene.”
There are many incidents that happened in the last two years but were never reported, street vendors said. “Only a few get reported, but it is a daily ordeal that we face,” they add.
Last year in October another incident took place where an elderly Kashmiri street vendor who was wearing a Kurta Pyajama and a Muslim prayer cap went to answer nature’s call on the roadside while squatting on his knees. As soon as he had finished and had pulled up his trousers halfway, he was beaten by six men who came from behind, reveals Arshid Asgar, a Kashmiri vendor.
Asgar told the Kashmir Times that the elderly man was so terrorised that he went back to Kashmir and didn’t return to Delhi that year.
“I have been told by many people including some of my established customers that they have received directions to refrain from purchasing from Kashmiri merchants, be it dry fruits, suits, or shawls.”
The Dwindling Trade
Trade requires a friendly environment, but the present atmosphere of hate is a huge impediment to our work, say street vendors.
For Gul Mohammad Mir, the dwindling trade is no surprise.
“I have been told by many people including some of my established customers that they have received directions to refrain from purchasing from Kashmiri merchants, be it dry fruits, suits, or shawls,” said the septuagenarian.
“We are not welcomed into homes anymore and are only able to sell our products to our long-standing customers,” says Nazir Ahmad, a resident of Budgam’s Tosa Maidan.
“Earlier, we earned between Rs 70,000 to 90,000 in a month, but now, we hardly make Rs 30,000,” Nazir says.
“If this present atmosphere of hate continues, our trade here will come to a standstill,” worries Nissar Ahmad Ganaie, who has been coming to Delhi for the last 25 years.
“We are often called terrorists, Pakistanis, and on some days our customers force us to say Jai Shri Ram (a Hindu religious chant which has been politicised in the last ten years). How can we think of continuing our business if the situation remains the same?” Ganaie asked.
“Earlier, we earned between Rs 70,000 to 90,000 in a month, but now, we hardly make Rs 30,000,” Nazir says.
More vulnerable than Indian Muslims
The salient features of a Kashmiri – lighter skin tone, Roman nose, a particular accent, and often bearded faces – can be a potential reason for them being targeted, the street vendors say.
While the right-wing groups hate and assault Indian Muslims, they have more reason to do so to a Kashmiri.
Despite dwindling militancy in recent decades in Kashmir, people here still label every Kashmiri as a militant and presume that the person is ‘pro-Pakistani’. That’s a tag enough to get you in trouble, say the street vendors.
“We come from the land of mountains and snow and we have lighter skins. They always treat us as ‘the other’,” they said.
In 2016, when Kashmir was witnessing street protests, Mudasir Waqar, driven by the financial situation due to the prolonged shutdown, left Kashmir for the first time. Hailing from Budgam’s Kanihama, he was 25 then and the sole earning member in his family, which included his two little sisters and a widowed mother.
It’s been eight years since Waqar started coming to Delhi, but he is stunned every time some person calls him a “terrorist.” “I can’t even count how many times I have been called a terrorist or asked disturbing questions like, how many times have I fired an AK-47,” he says, his mouth trembling.
Questions like these accompanied by abusive language have taken a toll on Waqar’s mental health he says, but he continues to work and sell his merchandise in Delhi. If he stops doing it, his family back home will have to go hungry, he says.
Waqar’s thoughts are echoed by 61-year-old Abdul Rashid of south Kashmir’s Mattan.
“Even if we want to confront them, we are scared that they might forcibly thrust a weapon in our hands or our belongings, and who is more afraid of being accused of carrying a weapon than a Kashmiri?” Rashid asks.
“It feels they consider us their enemy,” said the street vendors.
“The Indian government, every now and then, announces that Kashmir is the country’s integral part, then why so much hate for us?” the street vendors asked.
They say Kashmir is their crown, yet they are ever ready to crush the holders of this crown, said the street vendors.
“The Indian government, every now and then, announces that Kashmir is the country’s integral part, then why so much hate for us?” the street vendors asked.
What does J&K government say?
When asked about the government’s plan to address these concerns, Jammu Kashmir National Conference’s spokesperson Ifra Jan said that the safety of Kashmiris working or studying outside J&K is a “matter of serious concern for the party.”
Jan said, they propose to work with the governments of other Union Territories and States to ensure swift and strict punishment for the perpetrators of violence against the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
Jan said that the Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and his party’s Member Parliament from Srinagar, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, have been “vocal about the rights of minorities in the country.”
Pretending not to be Kashmiri
To avoid targeted assaults and stereotypes, the street vendors say they try not to “look like a Kashmiri.”
Some of them don’t let their beards grow, and others wear masks and caps to hide their appearance, especially when they are travelling in public transport, they reveal.
“Last month, I was on a bus, and my sack slightly touched a man accidentally. He scolded me, saying, ‘You Kashmiris come here to disturb us, steal our business, and hurt our religion.’ If not for some elders on the bus, he would have assaulted me,” recalled Nissar Ahmad Ganaie.
In times when their ethno-religious identity is being weaponized against them by some Hindu fanatics, these Kashmiri vendors struggle to hide their identity in public.
“If we are on public transport and receive a phone call from family and friends back home, we avoid speaking in our mother tongue and only talk in common Urdu-Hindi,” a Kashmiri vendor said.
“I can’t even count how many times I have been called a terrorist or asked disturbing questions like, how many times have I fired an AK-47,”
Lack of Opportunities in Kashmir
Disheartened and fearful of the hostile reception in Delhi, the street vendors say they want to establish a permanent business in Kashmir. “But that would require acquiring land and building a shop, and even if we manage it somehow, there is no guarantee of customers,” say the vendors.
Notwithstanding the influx of tourists that Kashmir is witnessing at the moment, the vendors believe these tourists have a weak buying power.
“We remain in constant touch with the men involved in the trade of handicrafts in Kashmir, they keep lamenting about the business situation, further discouraging us from establishing our business there,” around a dozen Kashmiri vendors told the Kashmir Times.
Furthermore, hawking doesn’t produce much returns in Kashmir as the indigenous people there purchase from their trusted traders and do so only on special occasions like weddings, the street vendors said.
“Who will want to put their lives at risk of being decimated, but the present economic situation in Kashmir discourages us from thinking of establishing our business there,” one street vendor said.
After the reading down of Article 370 and 35A, the little hopes of setting up a small business or seeing their children secure a government job have diminished, said Ghulam Nabi.
They point to the increasing unemployment back home and the lack of jobs for the youth.
As per a recently released Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, J&K has a staggering 32 percent unemployment rate and a stunning 53.6% joblessness among females.
Politics, not religion
For Nazir Ahmad, the current hate scenarios have nothing to do with Hinduism and are only a political manifestation of the Modi-led government’s policies.
“This is not religion, this is politics. No religious scripture on earth teaches its followers to treat another human being as inferior or to hate people of other religions,” he says.
If everyone follows their religion properly, they will be freed from hate, asserts Ahmad.
Many of Ahmad’s Hindu customers in Delhi tell him of how BJP is polarizing Indian society.
“They tell me how they oppose the centre’s sentiments against Muslims, and how ashamed they feel in front of me because of what the BJP government is doing in the name of Hindus,” says Ahmad.
Although India has seen boosted progress in several sections in the last decade, they are all overshadowed by the hate speeches given on big platforms, says Ahmad.
“India is the world’s biggest democracy. Its constitution gives everyone irrespective of their background, the right to be free, and when a nation’s federal government undermines its constitution which is the governing force of a country, the society destabilises,” Ahmad said.
“Delhi is the heart of India, and if hate brews here, it will spread to every corner of the country,” the Kashmiri vendors said.
Little hopes of improvement
The Kashmiri vendors don’t see the present hateful atmosphere abating.
With Assembly Elections in Delhi expected by February 2025, traders fear that the BJP would use the communal card to win power in the national capital, thus triggering the already amplified hate against Muslims.
“The RSS and the BJP are the biggest beneficiaries of this hateful atmosphere, and when someone benefits from something, they will do everything to keep it intact,” said Ghulam Nabi.
The recent surveys of Muslim religious places which have led to communal disharmony and violence only suggest a negative future, Nabi said.
While the country’s apex court this month barred civil courts across the country from registering fresh suits challenging the ownership and title of any place of worship or ordering surveys of disputed religious places until further orders, and made it clear that no “effective” orders can be passed till the further orders by it, it brings only a feeble solace.
Nabi fears that if the survey of revered shrines like Ajmer Sharif or the historic mosques like Jama Masjid are allowed, there would be nothing left for Muslims to cling their hope on.
“Delhi is the heart of India, and if hate brews here, it will spread to every corner of the country,” the Kashmiri vendors said.
Until and unless India has a leader who spreads love and mutual respect, there are very little hopes of the situation getting better, said the street vendors.
But despite the hate and fear, Kashmiri vendors say they have no option but to continue with the trade they have been associated with for decades now.
“What will we do? We have families to take care of, we cannot abruptly abandon our trade and sit at home and let ourselves and our families die of hunger,” the vendors lamented.
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Content retrieved from: https://kashmirtimes.com/in-focus/kashmiri-street-vendors-in-delhi-live-in-fear-of-being-lynched.