In a stark display of prejudice and fear-mongering, locals in Assam’s Tinsukia district detained 44 Kashmiris on Monday morning after seeing them near the Tinsukia Railway Station.
The group, comprising wage labourers from Doda and Kishtwar districts of occupied Jammu and Kashmir, was later handed over to the Railway Police Force for verification.
The men were brought by a contractor for transmission line work in Arunachal Pradesh. Locals reportedly claimed the group appeared “suspicious” in the aftermath of the November 10 Delhi blast and turned them over to authorities, reflecting a climate of collective suspicion against Kashmiris across India.
The detained Kashmiris explained that they had arrived by train earlier in the day and were simply traveling for employment. Despite their peaceful intentions, they faced harassment and scrutiny purely on the basis of their Kashmiri identity.
Observers note that this incident is part of a broader pattern of discrimination and intolerance against Kashmiris under the Hindutva BJP government, where ordinary citizens are increasingly profiled, vilified, and treated as potential threats. Experts say such acts of collective suspicion foster fear, deepen social divisions, and reinforce the marginalization of religious and ethnic minorities in India.
