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Attack on BJP panch: 3 BJP workers resign in south Kashmir
A Panch was fired on by suspected militants near his home in Kulgam
Three BJP activists dissociated themselves from the party on Wednesday, a day after Arif Ahmad Shah, a panch associated with the saffron party, was injured in a suspected militant attack in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
The three BJP workers are Kund constituency president Nisar Ahmad Wani, Devsar constituency vice-president Sabzar Ahmad Paddar, and activist Ashiq Hussain Palla of Warpora-Kund .
The resignation comes on the first anniversary of the revocation of Article 370, which is being celebrated by the BJP amid strict restrictions on movement and assembly of people. Shah was fired upon by suspected militants near his home at Akhran village of Devsar in Kulgam on Tuesday night. He sustained injuries on the neck.
Wani, a baker, who had joined the BJP a few months ago, said, “I am an unlettered person and earn my living as a labourer. I think it is better to focus on feeding my family without any stress.”
Though he said his resignation had nothing to do with the attack on Shah last night, he said Kund was a very dangerous area. “We live on a hill and fear is pervasive,” he said. Paddar said they had resigned of their own accord and had not been pressured. “I resigned owing to some personal reasons. We belong to poor families and want to focus on our families,” Paddar, who had joined the BJP six months ago, said.
BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur said Shah was stable. However he denied that the workers who resigned were part of the BJP. “Atleast, I don’t know them,”he said.
Last month BJP’s former Bandipora district president Waseem Bari, was killed, along with his father Basheer Ahmad and brother Suhail Basheer, inside his shop. Police had said two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) members were involved.
