Attacked in India, Kashmiri shawl sellers choose between safety, livelihood

A surge in attacks has forced many Kashmiris to return home. Others are devising survival strategies.

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – Ayaz Ahmad stares at his screen, fingers moving rapidly as he types in a group chat on his mobile phone.

Ahmad, 28, goes around houses in Hisar, a city in northern India’s Haryana state, selling shawls and other handicraft items – like thousands of other itinerant traders from Indian-administered Kashmir, who crisscross the country on foot or bicycles.

But a spate of hate attacks faced by the shawl sellers in recent weeks has forced them to rethink and strategise what was once a common, winter-time sight across Indian cities: Kashmiris lugging large wraps holding shawls and other wares.

Ahmad now runs a WhatsApp group in which nearly two dozen members share information as they guide each other on areas to avoid.

“I guide them on where to go and where to avoid because some areas are fine, but others have seen harassment against our members,” Ahmad told Al Jazeera.