Kashmiri vendors did brisk business on Friday

LUCKNOW: Two days after they were thrashed by members of Vishwa Hindu Dal, the three Kashmiri vendors were back to business on Friday with the support of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA).

Dry fruit seller Mohammed Salman, who was assaulted by a group of five men on Daliganj bridge on Wednesday, got support to put up a stall of dry fruits along with his aides Ghulamuddin (55) and Khurshid (26) at Buddha Research Institute in Gomtinagar. Placards inviting people to buy ‘Kashmiri dry fruits’ were put up at the gate of the institute. The response of the public was so good that by the end of the day, the vendors were able to sell products worth Rs 25,000. On an average, the Kashmiri vendors said they make sales of Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000.

Kavita Srivastava of Vibhuti Khand came to buy saffron. “We eagerly wait for Kashmiri vendors to visit the city so that we can buy genuine saffron from them. I trust them and condemn any discrimination against them,” she said.

Visitors demanded that those who attacked innocent Kashmiris must be punished. Subhasini Ali, former MP and AIDWA member, said, “If we consider Kashmir to be a part of India then we ought to behave with Kashmiris like our brothers and sisters.”

The overjoyed Kashmiris, all natives of Kulgam , told TOI that they had been visiting the city for the past 20 years and considered it their own. The Lakhnawi tehzeeb brought them back every year, they said.

