Sheikh Waseem Bari (31) of Bandipora town, along with his entire family, has been associated with the BJP since 2014, when Narendra Modi took over as prime minister, with the promise of strengthening the ‘nationalist forces’ in strife-torn Kashmir.

After functioning as BJP’s Bandipora District President, Bari was appointed as a member of the party’s state executive committee in March 2020. On 4 June 2020, he was also appointed as the Kashmir in-charge, of the party’s Department of Training. His father, Bashir Ahmad Sheikh (60), and brother Umer Sheikh, have held different lower rung positions in the BJP. They had also established the BJP’s District Office at their two-storey house opposite to local police station. The Sheikh house in the Muslimabad neighbourhood, with the high-flying Indian tricolour and the BJP’s party flags hoisted on a terrace, is a landmark for the town.Minutes after Bari returned from a visit to his in-laws and was with his father and brother at one of the shops on the ground floor at 8:45 PM on Wednesday, 8 July, an unidentified militant ambushed them and shot them dead.

All three died after receiving bullets to their heads. From Prime Minister Modi to the senior J&K BJP leader and Minister of State in the PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, many in the government sent their condolences to the bereaved family – of two women and two children.