JKSA seeks UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s intervention over elderly Kashmiri patient’s harassment by local goons in Saharanpur  

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) on Monday sought the urgent intervention of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and condemned the harassment, intimidation, and open threats faced by an elderly Kashmiri Muslim man, Mohd Wali Shah, a resident of Anantnag, Kashmir, who was in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, for medical treatment. The association said the incident; the eighth such case reported this year highlights a deeply alarming and recurring pattern of targeted hostility against Kashmiri Muslims.  

National Convenor of Association, Nasir Khuehami, said the accused Yashasvi Arya from Saharanpur, who claims to be the National President of the Hindu Yuva Shakti Sangathan, along with his associates, has been captured on video intercepting, intimidating, and harassing Kashmiri Muslim vendors and patients visiting the area.

In one of the videos, Arya is seen using abusive and violent language, issuing open threats, and deliberately attempting to instil fear among Kashmiri Muslims. In another clip, he is heard saying, “We will treat Kashmiri Muslims the way Kashmiri Pandits were treated,” while making sweeping and deeply offensive claims that all Kashmiris; whether doctors or otherwise;“only know how to make bombs and carry weapons.” He further urges members of the Hindu community not to allow Kashmiris into their homes.

Khuehami stated that these statements and actions clearly constitute hate speech, criminal intimidation, and a calculated attempt to incite communal hatred, posing a serious threat to public order, national unity, and the constitutional rights of citizens. Targeting a senior citizen seeking medical care, he said, underscores the extreme cruelty, moral bankruptcy, and lawlessness underlying such acts.

“The repeated targeting of Kashmiri Muslims, vendors, labourers, students, and even patients points to a systematic and deliberate effort to deny them their right to livelihood, dignity, and free movement through fear and coercion,” Khuehami added. He urged the SSP Saharanpur Ashish Tiwari  and the DIG Saharanpur Range Abhishek Singh to ensure the prompt identification and arrest of all those responsible and to send a clear and unequivocal message that lawlessness and communal intimidation will not be tolerated. 

He further emphasised that Jammu and Kashmir is an undeniable and integral part of India, and its people are equal citizens of this country, entitled to the same rights, dignity, safety, and freedom of movement as any other Indian. “No citizen can be subjected to intimidation or exclusion on the basis of identity. Kashmiris must be allowed to live, work, travel, seek medical care, and practice their profession anywhere in the country without fear,” he said. 

Association Urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to take immediate cognisance, direct the registration of an FIR under stringent legal provisions relating to hate speech, criminal threats, and acts prejudicial to communal harmony, and ensure the swift arrest of the accused to prevent further escalation. “Rule of law must prevail. Silence or delay will only embolden such elements and deepen the sense of insecurity among Kashmiri Muslims across the country,” the association added.