At his third-floor residence in south-east Delhi’s Okhla, 65-year-old Syed Abdul Rashid sat on the carpet in his living room with his wife, son and daughter. A shawl merchant, he and his son had returned early from work on Monday.
Car registration number
“We have a car with Jammu and Kashmir registration number. We are not using it for the last four days and there is a sense of fear when we step out though we have not faced any hostility . Delhi is safer than other cities but we have to be cautious,” he said.
Clad in a light blue kurta-pyjama, Mr. Rashid wrapped himself in a quilt. His wife sat next to him, cutting vegetables for lunch.
Mr. Rashid’s day ended early on Monday because of an Pulwama encounter killing nine, including five security personnel. “It will probably take one person shouting that we are Kashmiris and the others might get provoked. We might not get killed but we can certainly be harmed,” said Mr. Rashid’s son Syed Faizan, 28.
Living in the Capital for the last 40 years, Mr. Rashid said he never felt this threatened before, “not even after the 2016 Uri attack”.
Mr. Rashid and his son have an elite clientele to whom they have been selling shawls for several years and none of them, they claim, have mentioned the incident or shown any influence of the incident to them.
“They invite us in for tea and their behaviour has been similar in the last few days too. But we don’t stop near street vendors like we used to because of the fear,” said Mr. Faizan.
Anti-Kashmiri sentiment
The Pulwama attack appears to have an impact on the locality. Recalling Sunday prayers at the mosque, he said, a Muslim man shared anti-Kashmiri sentiment aggressively in front of everyone.
“I tried to stop him by saying that all Kashimiris cannot be blamed for what one did. Kashmiri families living in others States are there for business,” he said.
For the past few days, the Kashmiri families in the locality, whenever they meet, they only discuss the current security situation and advice each other “to stay close and united in these testing times”.
Blames media
A 28-year-old Kashmiri woman, talking from behind a closed door through the fence, blamed media reports for creating a hype in the Capital.
“For the last four days I did not go to college in Noida but today I went and did not feel unusual. People in my college know I am a Kashmiri and that has no impact on anyone. The reports on TV seem to be exaggerating the situation in Delhi. But yes, certainly on the streets, if I have to tell someone I am a Kashmiri or they get to know, I feel scared of a negative reaction,” she said.
Increased patrolling
Delhi police, on Saturday, claimed that they have increased deployment of officers in minority-dominated areas.
When Mr. Rashid was asked whether officers are patrolling the area during the day and night, he denied.
On another street, when Ashraf, who is known by his first name in the area, was approached by The Hindu , he closed the door saying “ Mahaul bohot kharab hai [The situation is not right to talk]”.
