The attack on two Kashmiri traders in Lucknow, which triggered widespread condemnation, was carried out by four men from a right-wing fringe outfit called the Vishwa Hindu Dal, and claim to have links with the state's ruling BJP. In cellphone videos of their attack, the men were seen beating the traders with sticks, hauling them by the collar, abusing them and finally, demanding that they prove they are Indian. The attack was part of a countrywide backlash against Kashmiris after it became known that a 19-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir was the suicide bomber responsible for last month's terror attack in Pulwama, in which 40 CRPF personnel died.
