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Shabir Ahmad Dar, a resident of Indian-administered Kashmir, has been selling pashmina shawls for more than 20 years.

On Sunday, Dar, along with another salesman, was publicly harassed and assaulted by members of a Hindu right-wing group, who were reportedly incensed by the killing of 26 people at a popular tourist spot in Kashmir last week.

As the search for the perpetrators of last week's attack continues, security forces in Kashmir have detained thousands of people, shut off more than 50 tourist destinations, sent in additional army and paramilitary troops, and blown up several homes belonging to families of suspected militants who they accuse of having "terrorist affiliations".

Back home in Kashmir, peace has long been fragile.

"The needle of suspicion is always on locals, even as militancy has declined in the last one-and-a-half decades," says Anuradha Bhasin, the managing editor of the Kashmir Times newspapers.