MUSSOORIE: Ganesh Joshi, the BJP MLA from Mussoorie on Thursday wrote to Uttarakhand chief secretary S Ramaswamy , asking him to ensure that “all Kashmiri vendors had gone through through verification as it was necessary to ensure national security.” Citing the incident on Sunday when 3 Kashmiri youth were arrested in the hill station for raising pro-Pak slogans after India lost to Pakistan in the Champions trophy finals, the MLA wrote, “If these anti-national activities are ignored, they will break the confidence of nationalist people and give more encouragement to those involved in conspiring against India.”

Speaking to TOI, Joshi said, “Anybody who lives in India and supports Pakistan should have no place in our country. The fact that some youth were shouting anti national slogans in Mussoorie means they deserved to be taken head on. So many Kashmiri vendors have recently taken shops in Mussoorie and are paying rent which is often double the market rate. Where are they getting all this money from? It means there are ulterior motives in the disguise of work. Therefore, we need to be very cautious.”

Meanwhile, the call to oust Kashmiri vendors from Mussoorie seems to have divided the hill town and initiated a blame game among stakeholders.

Members of the traders’ association which had given the call to expel Kashmiri traders from the town said they were forced to do so. We’ve all seen how volatile the times are. If the municipal council is not doing its bit for the safety of the town, we will have to do what we can. Also we are only asking the vendors who have set shop in the past two years to leave, not the older ones,” said Rajat Aggarwal, president, Mussoorie Traders Association.

Municipal Council chairman Manmohan Mall meanwhile said that it was “skewed vision to ask all the new traders to leave.” “To begin with, it’s the police and the SDM who have to look at the law and order situation here. We can’t be held responsible for everything in the town. Also, my view is that it’s wrong to think all the Kashmiris are the same. It’s their country as well; they should have the freedom to earn a living with dignity. That said, I will say, punish the guilty, ouster them but don’t think everyone is made from the same mould.”

Hargiri, SDM, Mussoorie echoed Mall’s views. “We can’t take a random blanket decision of ousting people from the town. That said, the security of the town is our big concern. There is a procedure for everything and we will go by what the law says.”

Meanwhile, police officials who had so far maintained a silence on the issue said they will begin a verification drive of traders early next week.