Amid poll anticipation, Home Minister Amit Shah visiting Jammu today

The home minister, after landing in Jammu at 11 am, will visit Dhangri village in Rajouri district to meet the family members of seven civilians, including two children, who were killed in terror attacks on January 1 and 2.

Sources said that during the meeting with family members, Shah will hand over job appointment letters to them, said sources. The union territory administration has already announced an ex-gratia cash compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the terror attack victims.

Shah is also scheduled to meet a few delegations at Raj Bhawan before leaving for New Delhi, sources added. This is his third visit to Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.

Reacting to the latest developments, former chief of Jammu and Kashmir Police chief SP Vaid said, “In the Kashmir Valley, security agencies have been successful in containing terror activities, following which Pakistan-sponsored terror organisations are shifting their focus towards the Jammu region.”

The terror outfits are looking for a revival in the Jammu region by dropping weapons along the international border with the help of drones, targeting civilians to trigger a fear psychosis. On December 16, terrorists killed two civilians outside an army camp in Rajouri district, he added.

Preventive security steps

In the backdrop of the civilian killings, the Centre has deployed as many as 20 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), with 2,000 personnel in the border district of Rajouri, to protect residents.

The government is also equipping Village Defence Guards (VDGs) with automatic weapons for the first time. They are being trained by the CRPF personnel so that they can act as a line of defence in case of a terror attack.

VDGs have also been alerted along the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts.

While addressing his annual press conference on January 12, Army chief General Manoj Pandey said that the army has procured drone jammers to counter the air-dropping of weapons and drugs.

He also said that the Indian Army’s counter infiltration grid is strong in the Valley, following which terrorists are attempting to enter through other routes such as the Pir Panjal range in Jammu, and the international border in the Jammu region.

Assembly elections

On January 9, Minister Shah held a meeting with his party colleagues, including BJP general secretary and In-charge of J&K Tarun Chug, J&K unit president Ravinder Raina, and two former deputy chief ministers, Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta.

“During the meeting, various issues were discussed such as protests by Kashmiri Pandit employees, who are demanding relocation from the Valley, attacks in Rajouri, and the pace of developmental works. We were assured that all the issues would be streamlined at the earliest. There were clear indications for polls,” said a senior party leader.

Political observers said that districts such as Poonch and Rajouri are important for the Bharatiya Janata Party since it has promised to grant Scheduled Tribe status to the Pahari community.

Meanwhile, on January 12, a core group meeting was held in Jammu and chaired by BJP national general secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh along with general secretary Tarun Chugh and union minister Dr Jitendra Singh.

Sources said that during the meeting, the central leaders told party members to concentrate on elections and strengthen cadres at the booth and constituency levels to get 50 seats.
They also said that elections in the union territory could take place between April and May.

J&K has been without an elected government since June 2018, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) broke its alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), forcing the latter’s leader Mehbooba Mufti to resign as chief minister of the erstwhile state.