Right-wing activists on Friday surveyed street vendors in Jammu to look
for Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees, prompting Jammu and Kashmir police to intervene.

The activists scanned several localities in Jammu, asking the vendors for their Aadhaar cards. They were seen pasting stickers reading “Main Bharatiya, Mera Bharat Mahan (I am an Indian, my India is great)” on the carts run by Indians.

Videos showed a police team led by an inspector intervening and politely asking the activists to desist until permission was obtained.

Manish Saini, a leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction, said he was leading the campaign to check for Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees.

“Any illegal Bangladeshi or Rohingya will in no way be allowed to settle here. We have started a campaign — Main Bharatiya Mera Bharat Mahan — under which we went to places to check the documents of street vendors. We gently asked them to show their Aadhaar cards. Everything is being done within the limits of the law,” he said.

Saini claimed that three to four vendors deserted their carts as soon as they saw the activists coming. The Shiv Sena leader said the police asked the activists to apply for permission. “We are approaching the deputy commissioner (for a formal permission),” he said. “We are doing everything in the interest of the nation and will continue our campaign.”

‘Unsettled’ Kashmir

Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday said the unresolved Kashmir issue continues to keep the region in an unsettled state despite the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, warning that the region can erupt anytime if a solution continues to elude.

“Despite making unilateral changes in 2019, the reality is that the Kashmir conflict continues to keep the region in an unsettled state that can erupt anytime. That is why wars are paused, not ended, and dialogue finds no takers,” the Mirwaiz, who was put under house arrest for the second consecutive Friday, said in a video message.

The separatist leader said “trust deficit” between the people of Kashmir and New Delhi “has widened, not shrunk”.