BJP wants security for leaders in J&K

NEWDELHI: After the killing of five party workers in two months by terror groups stoked panic among its cadre in the Kashmir Valley, the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has sought more secure living spaces for senior functionaries and public representatives at the panchayat and district levels.

According to a party functionary who spoke on condition of anonymity, the demand for “safe spaces” in Srinagar and other district headquarters was placed before BJP president JP Nadda last week.

“There is a clear targeted killing of BJP workers; the party is working on measures that will be taken to address the concerns of the workers in the Valley. For now, they have been urged to remain cautious and avoid travelling unless it is urgent,” said a senior BJP leader in Delhi.

There are intelligence inputs that attacks could intensify in the run-up to Independence Day, the functionary said.

Since the killing of Ajay Bharti, a Congress man and the sarpanch of Lukbawan village in south Kashmir’s Larkipora area in June, five BJP workers have been gunned down.

Killing of political workers in the Valley started soon after the eruption of terrorism in the former state in the late-1990s.