CM meets legislators, works on LoC strategy

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 24

As a silent migration is going on from border districts due to escalation of Indo-Pak tension, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today convened meetings with legislators to devise a comprehensive strategy to face emerging situation in the volatile areas of the Line of Control (LoC).

As the Nowshera area of the Rajouri sector has witnessed a huge migration of border residents after intense shelling on the Line of Control from May 10 to 13, the Chief Minister held detailed discussions with Nowshera MLA Ravinder Raina, who belongs to the BJP, on displacement of the people.

She also called MLC Surinder Choudhary, who is a native of Nowshera and belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party, to seek his views on the situation.

Due to heavy shelling from across the LoC, three civilians were killed while hundreds were forced to leave their homes in the Nowshera area. As of now, a large number of families from the border areas have taken shelter in various schools at safer places. Although there are no reports of fresh shelling on the border, the fear-stricken families in relief camps are not ready to return to their native places.

Highly placed sources said the Chief Minister held separate meetings with MLA and MLC and sought their suggestions on how to deal with situation on day-to-day basis. “The government is seriously thinking of formulating a comprehensive policy to deal with the border situation because displacement of the people has become a routine affair due to repeated truce violations,” the sources said, adding that before devising the border strategy, Mehbooba wanted to get suggestions and feedback from peoples’ representatives.

Official sources said the Chief Minister was likely to visit the worst-affected Nowshera area shortly to review the situation and to hold interaction with border migrants.

After meeting the Chief Minister, Raina said more than 3,000 villagers from areas like Jhanger, Sariya, Sair-Makkari, Lam, Laroka, Pukherni, Bhawani, Kalsian, Langer, Dhanaka, Manpur and Kalal have migrated to safer areas.

MLCSurinder Choudhary demanded that border migrants must be treated as internally-displaced persons and at par with displaced Kashmiri Pandits.

“Treating border migrants at par with Kashmiri migrants would solve many of their problems,” he argued, adding that there was a need to come out with a comprehensive policy to establish sustainable peace on the Line of Control.

Mehbooba likely to visit Nowshera

• The CM held discussions with Nowshera MLA Ravinder Raina and MLC Surinder Choudhary to seek their views on the border situation
• The government is thinking of formulating a comprehensive policy to deal with the border situation because displacement of the people has become a routine affair due to repeated truce violations
• The CM likely to visit the worst-affected Nowshera area soon to review the situation and to hold interaction with migrants
• Due to heavy shelling from across the LoC, three civilians were killed earlier this month while hundreds were forced to leave their homes in the Nowshera area