Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary has raised sharp questions over the continuing pattern of violence in the region, reacting to the killing of two migrant labourers in Kulgam district. He said the recurring nature of such attacks stood in stark contrast to the assurances given at the time Article 370 was abrogated, when the Centre had projected the move as a decisive step toward ending militancy in the region.
Speaking to reporters, Choudhary described the Kulgam killings as deeply distressing, noting that the victims were labourers who had travelled to Jammu and Kashmir simply to earn a livelihood. He drew a direct line between this incident and earlier attacks in Pahalgam and Anantnag, suggesting a troubling continuity in the targeting of civilians and outside workers across the Valley in recent months.
The Deputy Chief Minister expressed frustration at what he called the repeated cycle of condemnation that follows each such incident, without any corresponding improvement in the security situation on the ground. He pointed out that the constitutional changes of 2019, which stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and downgraded it into a Union Territory, were justified at the time on the promise that militancy would be brought to a definitive end.
Choudhary argued that six years on, the persistence of such killings inevitably invites scrutiny of that original justification. His remarks reflect a broader political undercurrent in Jammu and Kashmir, where questions over the effectiveness of post-2019 security arrangements continue to surface each time civilians, particularly non-local workers, are targeted.
The killing of the two brick kiln workers in Kulgam has already drawn condemnation from multiple quarters of the political spectrum, with several leaders demanding accountability and a transparent probe into the incident. Choudhary’s comments add a sharper political edge to that reaction, framing the attack not merely as an isolated tragedy but as part of a larger pattern that, in his view, calls the government’s stated achievements on security into question.
As the debate over the effectiveness of the region’s post-370 security architecture resurfaces, attention now turns to how the administration responds, both in terms of the ongoing investigation into the Kulgam attack and the broader political reckoning it has triggered among opposition and ruling coalition voices alike.
