A Trinamool Congress delegation that visited the border district of Poonch on Thursday questioned the media’s silence on the plight of the people who had to deal with Pakistani shelling for three weeks after the Pahalgam attack.

After meeting the families of those who have borne the brunt of the shelling in Poonch from April 22 to May 10 and witnessing their pain, Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien called it a “difficult day” for him and the other four members of the delegation — Nadimul Haque, Sagarika Ghose, Manas Ranjan Bhunia and Mamata Thakur. The delegation will be in Jammu and Kashmir till May 23.

They will travel to the border district of Rajouri on Friday. “We visited the families of ex-serviceman Amarjeet Singh and madrasa teacher Qari Mohammad Iqbal. The Thakur family’s roof was ripped off by shelling. We also visited the Christ School, where two 13-year-olds were killed and another child’s arm had to be amputated after being injured by the shelling,” Derek told reporters on his return from Poonch.

Bhunia, a minister in the Bengal government, said the people in the border areas asked for bunkers to be made, and wondered aloud why the media was not reporting the plight of these families.

Derek said locals had contested the media narrative that Iqbal, a madrasa teacher, was a PoK-based “terrorist”.

Ghose said more people died in Pakistani shelling in Jammu and Kashmir than in the Pahalgam attack by terrorists, but regretted their sufferings were ignored.

“All communities have suffered. The suffering of border villages where lives have been lost, livelihoods have been lost, has been ignored by the mainstream media. No one is talking about the sufferings of Poonch, Rajouri and other border villages,” she said.

The MP said they were in solidarity and empathy with border residents who have suffered enormously because of the Pakistani shelling. “We have come to tell you that you are not alone,” she said, vowing to bring their plight to the notice of the mainstream media.

She said they were committed to an inclusive India where the needs of every citizen were taken care of.

The Trinamool leaders also batted for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, saying federalism was ingrained in India’s Constitution. “Omar Abdullah must be fully empowered. The Trinamool Congress believes in the concept of federalism,” she said after a 90-minute meeting with the chief minister.

“The federal principle is ingrained in our Constitution, and therefore, to empower an elected government is an article of faith for us. It is a legitimate aspiration of the people.”