Srinagar, May 22: A five-member delegation from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday visited Poonch district to express solidarity with those affected by recent cross-border shelling. The delegation had earlier met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Srinagar late Wednesday evening.
The delegation, sent under the guidance of AITC Chairperson Mamata Banerjee, comprises Rajya Sabha members Derek O’Brien, Md Nadimul Haque, Manas Ranjan Bhunia, Sagarika Ghose and Mamata Thakur. During their three-day visit from May 21 to 23, the MPs aim to stand with the families who have lost loved ones due to the shelling and raise awareness about their plight.
Sharing details of the visit, Sagarika Ghose said, “We, the five-member delegation of public representatives from Bengal, came to Kashmir yesterday (Wednesday) and the same night we spent 90 minutes with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. We had a very good meeting with him and he told us in detail what the problems are of the people of border villages.”
Ghose said the Chief Minister briefed them about the situation in Poonch, Uri, and Rajouri. “Fifteen people have died in Poonch, more have died in Rajouri and in Uri. In fact, more people have died in these cross-border shellings from Pakistan than have died in Pahalgam,” she said.
“Every life matters. It is therefore extremely important that these suffering and problems of the people of the border villages is attended to on an urgent basis,” the TMC leader said, adding that the CM assured them his government is making every effort to provide medical help, rebuild schools and colleges, and compensate those whose homes and businesses were destroyed.
Ghose said the Chief Minister also informed them about his government’s efforts to launch an all-out initiative so that the relief and rehabilitation of border villages are done on an urgent footing.
TMC MP said they believe that the government of Omar Abdullah must be fully empowered. “The Trinamool Congress believes in the concept of the principle of federalism. The federal principle is ingrained in our constitution and therefore, to empower an elected government is an article of faith for us,” she said.
Expressing solidarity, Ghose said it is a legitimate aspiration for the people. We are fully in support of the elected government of J&K and we believe the elected government of J&K must be the empowered agency that is there to look after the welfare and well-being of the people of J&K, she added
Earlier, the TMC leader said the five-member delegation of public representatives from Bengal had come to Kashmir on a journey of solidarity, empathy, and sympathy. She said that it is the border villages of Jammu and Kashmir that have suffered the most due to shelling from Pakistan.
“All communities have suffered and the suffering of the border villages where lives and livelihoods have been lost has been ignored by the mainstream media,” she said, adding that no one is talking about the suffering of Poonch, Rajouri, and others located next to the Line of Control (LoC).
“The delegation has come to tell these villages that they are not alone and that we stand with them and always will. We intend to bring their plight to the notice of the mainstream media and work toward rebuilding their lives,” she said.
