Srinagar: Two Kashmiri shawl sellers were harassed by a suspected Hindu rightwing activist in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday (1 February) with the police allegedly refusing to file an FIR in the case.A video of the incident which circulated on social media shows an elderly Kashmiri man identified as Mohammad Ramzan, a resident of Kupwara district, carrying a sack of shawls on his back and walking towards a market in Nurpur of Himachal’s Pradesh when he is intercepted by the accused.The second victim is also a Kupwara resident named Ashiq Hussain Gojri.The video shows the perpetrator running a live broadcast of the harassment on Facebook using a smartphone, despite objections by Ramzan who appears annoyed and tries to avoid him, repeatedly pleading to let him go while the accused follows him towards the market.“We are poor people,” Ramzan tells the man sternly but looking tense, “Why are you harassing us? Don’t you have kids? Are we not Indians? We believe in brotherhood. You may be a bigger Indian but we are also Indians”.However the accused cuts him short and blames Ramzan for threatening the army in Kashmir and betraying the Kashmiri Pandits. He also demands Ramzan open his sack of shawls.“Where was your brotherhood when Pandits left Kashmir?” the man says in a threatening tone, ordering Ramzan to produce his “permission” letter for doing the shawl business.“You stop there and listen to me,” the accused tells Ramzan, “I won’t let you move around here like this”.“No one threatens the Army,” Ramzan responds, walking away again, “They are our saviours and our brothers. Why are you harassing us on a daily basis? Have you ever heard that tourists were harassed in Kashmir? We are part of one country. Stop filming the video”.One more incident of hate crime against Kashmiri Shwal sellers. Now from Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.There are many such incidents of Kashmiri Shwal sellers being targeted in Himachal Pradesh @SukhuSukhvinder, Will the CM ensure that these hate mongers get harshest… pic.twitter.com/oYJoGC7joF— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) February 2, 2026The unidentified man seems undeterred and continues to follow Ramzan, “Hey you! What is in your sack? What if you are carrying an AK-47 rifle? Get it checked first. It is a live video which means that the whole country is watching”.In the meantime, Gojri who is also carrying a sack of shawls on his back walks into the frame, “Here comes another one,” the unidentified man says, turning to Gojri, “Where are you going? We won’t let you roam around here”.Ramzan however objects to the threat, “Why? Why won’t you let us do the business? We have the permission. Let the whole country watch. Are we thieves? We are also part of this country. You are harassing us. Why do you have to trample on our livelihood early in the morning?”He continues: “We are all brothers. I am going to call the police”.“If we are all brothers, tell me the difference between Allah and ‘Bhagwan’ (Hindu God),” the man says provokingly, as Gojri hands him a ‘character certificate’ issued by the Kupwara police.“Brothers, he has got permission from the local police. You don’t have the sarpanch’s permission?”, the man asks before the four minute 12 second video ends.Ramzan told The Wire that the unidentified man left them alone after the Facebook broadcast ended, telling them that “my job is done”. The two harrowed Kashmiri men later left the area fearing for their lives.On Monday (February 2), Ramzan approached Rehan police post in Nurpur police district along with other shawl sellers where the in-charge whom he identified as one Sunil allegedly refused to entertain their complaint, saying that the incident had not taken place in his jurisdiction, and threatened to file against him.“He said that the accused was a madman. When I insisted on filing the complaint, he said that there will be an FIR against me also after which we went to Nurpur police station,” Ramzan said, adding that the Nurpur police also refused to entertain their complaint.Chander Pal, a deputy superintendent of Himachal Pradesh police said that the police have taken cognisance of the incident, “We have summoned the accused after which action will be taken as per law”.Asked about Ramzan’s allegations, he said: “The district magistrate has issued an ‘order’ that any outsider coming to Himachal has to register at the local police station. These shawl sellers were not registered due to which legal action can be taken against them as well”.Pal, who said that the accused was reportedly a former army soldier, didn’t share a copy of the district magistrate’s ‘order’. The Wire has reached out to additional superintendent of police of Nurpur, Dharmchand Verma. The story would be updated when a response is received.The harassment of two Kashmiri shawl sellers in Kangra is the sixth such incident which have been reported in recent months from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.Even though the police have filed cases and made arrests in some cases, Kashmiri shawl sellers continue to face harassment and attacks. On January 28, a young shawl seller from Kupwara was brutally assaulted with an iron rod by a shopkeeper and his associates in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Uttarakhand’s Dehradun while his brother escaped the attack with minor injuries.The assault took place after the shopkeeper in Vikas Nagar area took exception to the two brothers conversing in Kashmiri language with each other. One man has been arrested by Dehradun police in connection with the case.For decades, thousands of Kashmiri men from underprivileged families have been earning a livelihood in major towns of north India and other parts of the country during winters by hawking Kashmiri shawls and other items.However, after the BJP came to power at the centre and particularly in the aftermath of the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing, Pahalgam terrorist attack and the Red Fort suicide bombing, some of these shawl sellers and other Kashmiris have faced harassment and attacks in some parts of the country.