KATHMANDU: In India's Kashmir region, a tourist couple from Jaipur was injured in a militant attack late on Saturday night, police reported. The couple was quickly evacuated to a hospital, and their condition is stable. The area where the shooting occurred has been cordoned off by the authorities.
This incident happened just before the region is set to vote in India's ongoing elections, with the remaining two seats in Kashmir going to the polls on May 20 and May 25. On May 13, voters turned out in large numbers in Srinagar, a notable increase compared to previous elections since the region's semi-autonomy was revoked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in 2019.
For the first time since 1996, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not contesting elections in Kashmir, opting instead to support regional parties. Major local parties, such as the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), have focused their campaigns on restoring the region's semi-autonomy.
Analysts and opposition parties speculate that the BJP's decision to skip the elections might be due to fears that the results could undermine its narrative of a more peaceful and integrated Kashmir since 2019.
In a related incident, former village headman and BJP member Ajiaz Ahmad Sheikh was killed by unidentified militants in the Shopian district on Saturday. The last significant attack on tourists in Kashmir occurred in 2017, targeting a bus of Hindu pilgrims and resulting in eight deaths.
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