Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, May 22: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and former Congress president, Rahul Gandhi is visiting Poonch in the Jammu region on May 24 to meet the families of those killed and affected by the recent Pakistani shelling.
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This will be the second visit of Gandhi, to Jammu and Kashmir after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 25 tourists and one local were killed.
Party sources told the ‘Excelsior’ that the former Congress chief is set to visit Poonch and meet the next of kin of those killed and the families affected by Pakistan’s shelling. Some senior party leaders including All India Congress Committee, general secretary and Incharge J&K affairs of the party, Dr Naseer Hussain will also be visiting Poonch with Rahul Gandhi.
J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president, Tariq Hameed Karra when contacted said that Gandhi will arrive at Jammu from New Delhi on Saturday morning and from there, will fly to border town of Poonch in a helicopter.
While confirming LoP’s visit to Poonch, Karra said that an advance Congress team led by AICC secretary Shahnawaz Choudhary, accompanied by MLA Rajouri, Iftkhar Ahmed and others, has been deputed to Poonch.
Karra said he also reached Poonch this evening to take review of the situation, meet district administration and other key party functionaries there and make arrangements for the smooth visit of the senior Congress leader.
PCC chief further said that as per information and travel schedule with him. Gandhi will arrive Jammu first. But he may also fly to Srinagar and from there to Poonch in a chopper. That will depend on the private flying company providing aircraft and taking care of the other safety concerns. He said after meeting affected families and taking on the spot assessment of the situation and damages suffered by people, Rahul Gandhi will fly back to Delhi in the afternoon.
It is pertinent to mention here that during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir last month following the terror attack, Gandhi had said the idea behind the terror strike was to divide the people of the country and it was imperative that India stood united to defeat terrorism once and for all.
The Poonch and Mendhar sectors were witness to heightened artillery shelling about two weeks ago following the rise in tensions with Pakistan after India carried out precise strikes on nine terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) that included the headquarters of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed (Bahawalpur) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (Muridke) on May 7.
A wave of artillery shelling, and missiles and drone strikes by Pakistan in the Jammu region — particularly in Poonch district, killed at least 20 people and injured more than 70 between May 8 and 10 after India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ to target terror infrastructure in the Pakistan and the Pak occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Thousands of people have migrated from the villages closer to the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border, to seek refuge in Government-run relief camps. India carried out precision strikes under ‘Operation Sindoor’ on terror infrastructure early on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10 but failed miserably. The Indian Armed Forces launched a fierce counter-attack on several Pakistani military installations.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding/ceasefire on May 10 to end the military confrontation after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
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