By Team Clarion
HATHRAS — An elderly Muslim tea seller in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras was publicly threatened and forced to remove his shop banner after members of a Hindu organisation objected to the name of his tea stall.
The incident took place near Roohery Bypass in the Hathras Gate police station area. A video of the confrontation has circulated widely on social media, showing Hindu group members arguing with the shop owner while police officers stand nearby.
The tea stall had been operating for a long time under the name “Kundan Tea Stall”. The banner also displayed the words “Baba Shamsher”. Despite this, members of a group led by Deepak Sharma, founder of an organisation called Rashtriya Swabhiman Dal, objected to the name.
Shamsher Khan, the elderly shopkeeper, appeared visibly shaken in the video.
In the footage, Deepak Sharma is heard telling the shopkeeper, “Abba named you Shamsher, and you will keep the shop’s name Kundan?”
The activists accused the elderly man of hiding his identity by using a name they claimed was linked to Hindu identity. They demanded that the banner be removed immediately.
When Shamsher Khan struggled to take down the poster, one of the men tore it down with a sharp object. Police personnel present at the scene did not stop the act. Instead, they were seen speaking to the activists while asking the person filming the video to stop recording.
A resident who witnessed the incident said, “The old man was scared. He kept saying he had done nothing wrong. The shop has been there for years.”
This story was originally published in clarionindia.net. Read the full story here.