‘Calm’ in Kishtwar Shattered by Killing of BJP Leader, Brother

Kishtwar, a small town of Jammu and Kashmir, is under curfew again after peace and quiet for five years. Curfew was imposed soon after the killing of BJP state secretary Anil Parihar and his brother Ajeet on Thursday.  

Police officials told NewsClick that Anil and his brother were coming back home after closing the stationary shop owned by Ajeet when unidentified gunmen shot them at point-blank range. Both of them were taken to hospital where the doctors declared them brought dead.

As soon as the news of the killing spread in the area, protests and clashes erupted between government forces and protestors. One of the eyewitnesses (wishing anonymity) said the mob threw rocks on the police station and assaulted the station house officer of the area.

On Friday, authorities imposed curfew in Kishtwar, Doda and Baderwah district of Jammu region, to maintain law and order. According to officials, the situation is under control.

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Although no violent incident was reported from Bhadarwah, authorities imposed curfew as a precautionary measure. Forces, including troops of Rashtriya Rifles (RR) also took out a flag March.

Parihar was associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since the last three decades and was in the Panthers Party for a brief while. He had been the state president of Bhartiya Janta  Yuva Morcha, BJP’s youth wing, and then became the BJP’s secretary in Jammu and Kashmir.

During the early 1990s, Kishtwar was one of the hotbeds of the militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. With the passage of time, there was a decline of the armed resistance movement, and Kishtwar remained calm even after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani when all other the parts of the valley saw one of the biggest mass uprisings in Kashmir.

The killing of two political leaders within five days, coming ahead of the panchayat elections starting on November 17, has once again raised the question of the security of political leaders in J&K.

On October 29, unknown gunmen shot dead a political worker  Mohammad Amin Dar of People Democratic Party in Gangbugh an area of Srinagar district.

During the municipal elections, held earlier in October this year, two candidates were killed by militants in Srinagar area. The four phases of elections were held under massive security and saw the lowest ever voter turnout of about 4.3%. These elections were held in spite of PDP and Congress boycotting, resulting in unchallenged BJP win.