Rajnath on four-day J&K visit from today

LIKELY TO ADDRESS RALLY IN ANANTNAG ON SEPTEMBER 10

JAMMU :Amid a long-drawn phase of turbulence in Kashmir, Union home minister Rajnath Singh’s ‘open-minded’ four-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir begins on Saturday.

His visit is being seen as a followup to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech of ‘Na goli se na gaali se, Kashmir ki samasya suljhegi gale lagane se (Kashmir problem cannot be resolved by bullets or by the use of bitter words, but only by embracing Kashmiri people).

The home minister’s visit coincides with former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s two-day tour to the winter capital of Jammu, which begins on Sunday.

Rajnath Singh will reach Srinagar on Saturday morning. Apart from various delegations, he will meet governor NN Vohra and chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. He will also review the security situation with the CM and the top brass of the army, CRPF, BSF, J&K Police and intelligence agencies.

On September 10, the home minister is likely to address a rally in Anantnag. The rally is being seen by the civil society of Kashmir in support of Article 35A, which empowers the J&K legislature to define the state’s “permanent residents” and their special rights and privileges.

The next day, Rajnath will be in Jammu to meet delegations from the civil society. On the same day, he will visit border migrants in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district, who have been displaced due to shelling from Pakistan since May. About 4,000 people continue to live in six relief camps in Nowshera.

Manmohan Singh will reach Jammu around noon on September 10. He heads the Congress party’s policy planning group on Jammu and Kashmir and problems related to it.

After meeting party leaders, he will meet delegations from the bar association, people from the business community, border residents, farmers, SCs, STs, OBCs.

He will return to Delhi on September 11 and will revisit Srinagar on September 16.