Jammu: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be reaching here on Thursday to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, his first visit to the Union Territory post Operation Sindoor, officials said.
During his two-day stay in Jammu region, Shah will also visit Poonch district which recorded the highest number of 14 civilian deaths among the total 28 lives lost in the indiscriminate Pakistani shelling and drone attacks during the skirmishes between May 7 and 10, they said.
This will be the third visit of the home minister to J&K since April 6 and first after the Indian armed forces struck terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early May 7 in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.
After conducting a three-day tour on April 6, Shah again visited Kashmir on April 23, a day after the Pahalgam attack.
The officials said the home minister is scheduled to arrive in Jammu Thursday evening and will chair a high-level security review meeting at Raj Bhawan.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and senior officials from the army, police and paramilitary forces will be attending the one-and-a-half hours meeting, they said.
The officials said Shah will interact with shelling-hit families during his visit to Poonch on Friday.
He will also visit damaged Singh Sabha Gurdwara and hold a meeting with officers to assess the damage in the worst-hit district, they said.
The home minister will also visit the Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Poonch and interact with the jawans before returning to Delhi, the officials said.
Meanwhile, a senior leader of the ruling National Conference has urged Shah to announce a comprehensive financial package for the people affected by the Pakistani shelling, while the J&K Congress questioned the delayed visit of the home minister to the region.
“I sincerely hope that the home minister will recognize the gravity of the situation and announce a substantial financial package for the people affected by the cross border shelling,” National Conference Provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta said.
He demanded a well-structured comprehensive financial package from the Centre which would not only provide much-needed support to the affected families but also aid in rebuilding livelihoods, strengthening infrastructure, and revitalizing the local economy.
Gupta also urged Shah to make the best utilization of his visit by fulfilling the long-standing promise of restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
J&K Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra said people want to know why did it take more than 20 days for the home minister to reach the shelling-hit people, especially of Poonch district who suffered huge pain besides loss to the property.
“Why no other national leader or central minister reach out to share the pain of affected people?” he asked.
Karra also questioned the home minister about the alleged security lapse in the Pahalgam terror attack and asked “who was held responsible for it and what action is being taken or contemplated”.
Chairing a party meeting here, Karra also accused the BJP of trying to take political mileage out of the success of Operation Sindoor.
Asking Congress cadres to counter the “false narratives and propaganda” against the party, he asserted that questioning the government does not mean questioning the nation.
“The opposition has a duty to ask questions to the government on behalf of people, otherwise democracy is in danger,” he said.
