What is the Intent of Terror Groups Behind Recent Civilian Killings in J&K?

Since 5 October, seven civilians were killed in separate incidents in Srinagar and Bandipore.

The Big Story Podcast on Kashmir Civilian Killings and Rise in Militancy. Image used for representation only.

(Photo: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

Since 5 October, seven civilians—Satinder Kour, Deepak Chand, Majid Ahmad Gojri, Mohammad Shafi Dar, Virendar Paswan, Mohammad Shafi Lone and ML Bindroo—were all killed in separate incidents in Srinagar and Bandipore.

This year, according to The Indian Express, at least 28 civilians have been killed in Kashmir till 7 October. Some victims from the recent killings also belonged to religious minority groups.

So far, a terror outfit that calls itself “The Resistance Front” (TRF) has claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, no suspects have been apprehended yet by the J&K police.

But the question which looms in the air is what is the intent behind these killings? Is it to instil fear in the community or is there a larger agenda behind it? And what does the spike in killings speak of the functioning of the J&K security forces?

For this, for today's episode, we spoke with political commentator and author Varad Sharma and former GoC of Srinagar based 15 Core Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain.