Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday thanked the Trinamool Congress for the visit to the state by party leaders, as its five-member delegation sent by Mamata Banerjee concluded the tour with “broken hearts” and “deep sorrow”.
The National Conference chairperson, during an interaction with journalists, said: “I would like to wholeheartedly thank Trinamool Congress for being the first to do this.”
“Five of their members came, went by road. They went to Poonch, are in Rajouri now, will go to Jammu after that. Their coming here, listening to the people is very good. It makes us feel like some people are standing with us at this difficult time,” said Abdullah, adding that India’s leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi would visit Poonch on Saturday.
Abdullah had met the Trinamool delegation comprising Rajya Sabha members Derek O’Brien, Sagarika Ghose, Md. Nadimul Haque, Mamata Bala Thakur and Bengal minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia for a 90-minute discussion at the beginning of their tour
on Wednesday.
The delegates had conveyed to Abdullah Mamata’s commitment to the empowerment of his duly elected government in accordance with the core principle of federalism enshrined in the Constitution.
On Friday, they visited the Government Medical College in Rajouri, meeting
the injured.
Conveying their condolences, Ghose said they went to Rajouri and Poonch to assure the victims of support from the people of Bengal. “The people living in these border areas are the most vulnerable and, sadly, the most neglected.... These are heartbreaking human tragedies unfolding in the border regions of Rajouri and Poonch,” she said.
The region they visited witnessed enhanced artillery shelling following the rise in tensions with Pakistan, after India’s Operation Sindoor on May 7, in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. The strikes by Pakistan in Jammu purportedly killed at least 27 people and injured more than 70 between May 8 and 10.
“Why have they not received better protection? These innocent people are on the frontlines, defenceless against cross-border shelling. Why must they suffer such grave injuries?” asked Ghose.
“Our hearts are broken. We return with deep sorrow after witnessing the suffering endured by the people,” she added.