Home Minister’s Visit

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be arriving in Jammu today for a two day visit to assess the ground situation in Jammu and Poonch. His visit is meant to take stock of the situation in Poonch that witnessed heavy shelling and targeting of civilian population by Pakistan after Indian launched the Operation Sindoor to decimate the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir(POJK) and areas like Bahawalpur inside Pakistan to send a strong message after the gruesome Pahalgam carnage in which twenty innocent tourists lost their lives to terrorists. The Home Minister had made an earlier visit to Jammu and Kashmir on April 23,after the Pahalgam massacre. He had visited the spot of gruesome carnage at Baisaran valley. He is scheduled to attend the meeting at Raj Bhawan. He will meet the army. police and security forces besides the intelligence agencies to seek the ground report. He will also take stock of the security preparedness for Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra. Operation Sindoor ensured that Pakistan is sent a strong message that terrorism of any kind emanating from across the border will lead to paying heavy costs. And India has done that. Amit Shah’s visit is indeed a much required one to boost the morale of the armed forces and the civilians who have faced the hostilities of Pakistan in the recent Indo-Pak conflict. Though a strong message has been sent to Pakistan both militarily and diplomatically, it cannot be trusted as its socio-political situation is fragile. In order to deviate the attention from its domestic turmoil it uses terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir to hoodwink the international community. India cannot afford to lower the guard. The posturing of both US and China during the recent India-Pakistan conflict in the aftermath of Pahalgam carnage has made it amply clear that there is a need for a totally indigenous approach to alter Pakistan’s asymmetrical war that it has inflicted on India. Pakistan’s war of attrition has created many problems in Jammu and Kashmir over the years. It includes the ethno-religious conflict that has ruptured the social fabric. The need is to repair that so that no opportunity is given to the adversary to exploit it at any cost. The selective killings during the Pahalgam carnage were meant to instigate communal tension. But thanks to the presence of mind of different communities, Pakistan’s nefarious designs were thwarted. Another issue that has remained unsolved is the settlement of Kashmiri Pandit refugees who have been rendered homeless due to the terrorism that subjected them to genocide. They are waiting for justice and their issue is the outcome of Pakistan’s war of attrition in Kashmir and thus this issue has to be addressed in tandem. Normalcy in Kashmir depends on the safe and secure return and rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandit community in their own ecosystem so that they can thrive as a society with a guarantee of non-refoulement. We hope the Home Minister Amit Shah will address there issue during this visit and send a strong message for reversal of their genocide. So that confidence and hope is restored in the community. Pakistan has wrecked the lives of people in Jammu and Kashmir and created a grave refugee problem leading to internal displacements. The people of Jammu and Kashmir want an end to Pakistan’s nefarious designs meant to destabilise Jammu and Kashmir and its people.