Twin Terror Attacks in J&K Reignite Debate Over Article 370

The opposition parties had opposed the abrogation of Article 370, which had effectively done away with the special status enjoyed by Jammu and Kashmir are now up in arms against the Union Government following the two terror attacks in Kulgam and Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir in a span of 24 hours.

Instead of standing by the government, they have been criticising the Centre for abrogating Article 370. Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary asked what had changed at the ground level since the state’s special status was removed.

“Militancy was there before 2019, and it is still happening today. There was an attack yesterday (in Kulgam), and there was another militant attack today (in Kishtwar). If people were getting martyred then and are still losing their lives today, what has actually changed?” The National Conference leader said.

The National Conference chief Farooque Abdullah, while stating that the terrorists will not succeed in their attempts, said that those in Delhi who keep “shouting” that terror has been wiped out should think over these attacks and see the ground realities.

Meanwhile, the Security agencies are pursuing Mohammad Lateef Bhat in connection with the Kulgam attack in which three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were injured.

It is said that Bhat has been on the radar of security agencies for some time; the emergence of a relatively new outfit, the Kashmir Revolutionary Army (KRA), has added a new dimension to the investigation. Bhat is believed to be associated with the outfit, which security agencies suspect is a proxy organisation of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT).

Analysts would describe the KRA as an offshoot of the Resistance Front (TRF). The front organisation is the Lashkar, and the TRF was created following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

The TRF was meant to give the LeT an indigenous appearance. The TRF was first banned by India. Following the Pahalgam attack, the United States also designated the TRF Front as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation in July 2025.

According to reports in news agencies, an Intelligence Bureau official said that the KRA and TRF are one and the same, and they share the same handlers, ground operatives and their recruitment pipelines are identical. These new outfits, it is said, are created to shield the parent body LeT.