People’s Democratic Party MLA Aijaz Ahmad Mir on Thursday sparked a controversy by purportedly referring to Kashmiri militants who died in clashes with security forces as “martyrs”. The deaths of militants should not be politicised or celebrated, The Indian Express quoted him as saying.

“We should not celebrate the killings of militants, it is our collective failure, we feel sad when our security forces are martyred as well, we should sympathise with parents of security jawans and with parents of militants as well,” the Wachi MLA said outside the state Assembly. “Jo Kashmir ke hein, chahey kisi bhi halat mein marein, woh martyr hein [Those who hail from Kashmir are martyrs irrespective of what circumstances they get killed in].”

On Wednesday, Mir had referred to Kashmiri militants as their “brothers”. His comments were criticised by his party’s ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party. “Terrorists and separatists are the enemies of Kashmir, Kashmiris, development and peace,” BJP leader and Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas told ANI. “How can they be someone’s brother?”

Nowshera BJP MLA Ravinder Raina demanded that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti penalise her party’s lawmaker for his “sensational statement”.

National Conference MLA Ali Mohammad Sagar called Mir’s statement an example of the PDP’s “double standards”.

In October 2017, suspected militants had hurled a grenade at Mir’s house. There was no damage reported in the explosion, Hindustan Times reported.