Himachal: Sarpanch’s wife made to apologise for harassing Kashmiri traders

A woman caught on camera bullying two Muslim shawl sellers from Kashmir for trading their wares in Himachal Pradesh ‘apologised’ on Tuesday, 26 November.

The apology came a day after a 2:46-minute video that surfaced on social media showed her telling two Kashmiris not to come to the village and asking them to say “Jai Shri Ram” to prove they are ‘Hindustani’.

On Tuesday, the woman, in a 49-second clip, said, “I accept my mistake and apologise if I intentionally or unintentionally said something wrong. I told them not to come to my home as some women live alone here and are scared of strangers.”

The original video of her harassing the Muslim traders and advocating for economic apartheid against them was shared by the national convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association Nasir Khuehami, who raised his voice against the incident when the first video turned up on X.

Khuehami had claimed that the video was from a village in Himachal's Hamirpur or Kangra districts and the woman was the sarpanch’s wife. A PTI report said it is yet to be verified where the incident took place.

“No one will purchase their products; buy from our Hindu people,” the woman was seen telling others in the earlier video. “Don’t come in my area,” she said.

Now, in response to her ‘apology’ — which reportedly the merchants were satisfied with, declining to file charges — Khuehami thanked Himachal chief minister Sukhvinder Sukhu and his media advisor Naresh Chauhan for their personal intervention. Netizens commented on his second post (below) arguing that the perpetrator did not seem to be apologetic in the least, far from feeling ‘deep regret’, and seemed to be reciting a scripted response.

Many held she should have been prosecuted.

With PTI inputs