23 Leaders, Workers Killed By Terrorists In Two Years, Says J&K BJP

The series of killings, it has been pointed out, coincide with the government's August 2019 decision to strip J&K of its special status and divide it into two union territories

Twenty-three BJP leaders or functionaries have been attacked or killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir over the past two years, the party said Wednesday, a day after Javid Ahmad Dar was shot dead in south Kashmir's Kulgam district; Mr Dar was the party's constituency in-charge for Kulgam. "In the last two years 23 BJP leaders or workers have been killed. It is high time for police to provide security and ensure workers' safety," Altaf Thakur, the party's J&K spokesperson, said. The series of killings, it has been pointed out, coincide with the government's August 2019 decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and divide it into two union territories. Soon after Mr Dar's killing a police statement on lack of security angered the BJP.