BJP president JP Nadda on Fridy condemned the killing of three workers of his party’s youth wing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Thursday, saying their sacrifice will not go in vain. Fida Hussain Itoo, the district general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Umer Rashid Beigh, a district executive member of the unit, and Umer Hajam, another member of the body, were shot dead by suspected terrorists in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, police said. The attack took place at YK Pora in Kulgam on Thursday evening, they had said.
“Terrorists killed three leaders, including district BJP Yuva Morcha general secretary Fida Hussain, in a cowardly attack in Kulgam in Jammu and Kashmir. The death of such patriots is a big loss for the country. The whole society is with the suffering families. These sacrifices will not go in vain. Condolences to the families,” JP Nadda said in a tweet in Hindi.
The three men were rushed to the Qazigund hospital with bullet injuries after being shot at by unidentified gunmen. Doctors at the hospital declared them dead on arrival. Officials said a case has been filed and an investigation has begun.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit had also “strongly condemned this barbaric terror attack” on Thursday and said that “those who are responsible for this will not be spared”. On Friday, former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta attributed the killings to the provocations by the leaders of National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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“We have lost three of our very dedicated leaders– Fida Hussain Yatoo, Umer Rashid Beigh and Umer Ramzan Hajam in a dastardly terror attack. I feel the provocations by the leaders of NC and PDP, who are trying to reactivate themselves, are behind such incidents. However, we are not going to tolerate this and the killers will be paid back in the same coin,” Gupta said.
Gupta said that the killing of three very dedicated leaders was a big loss to BJP and the nation. “There is an attempt to scuttle the voice of those who hold aloft the tricolour in the Kashmir Valley but it won’t deter us and the wave of nationalism won’t stop. The matter is being investigated,” he said.
JK BJP chief Ravinder Raina also echoed Gupta’s allegations. “Gupkar gang’s provocations are responsible for such incidents. They are conspiring against the nation and they repeatedly mention Pakistan and China in their statements. They are inciting the people in Kashmir. They should not play with fire because doing so strengthens anti-national forces and creates confusion among the people. They are to vitiate the atmosphere,” Raina said.
Raina also said that terrorists and their sympathisers were perturbed by grand Accession Day celebrations in Kashmir for the first time on October 26. “These leaders had taken part in the celebrations. The perpetrators will pay heavily for their sins,” he added.
Before this BJP leader Sheikh Waseem Bari, his brother and their father as well as Congress sarpanch Ajay Pandita were killed in Kashmir in July. BJYM president from Baramulla, Marouf Bhat, had resigned from the party followed by the resignation of a social activist from Handwara, Mubeena Bano. She was the third leader of the BJP from north Kashmir who had resigned from the party that month.
