PM’s visit comes amid high tension on Indo-Pak border

Modi visits Jammu when Pak troops have been firing on border for past few days, causing loss to life, property

JAMMU: It was the second time in nine months, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jammu and Kashmir amid the renewed tension between India and Pakistan.

On both the occasions, Modi didn’t make any direct reference to Pakistan but did send a symbolic message that J&K is an integral part of the country.

Last November, when Modi was addressing an election rally in Udhampur, the 24-hour encounter at Arnia had just ended leaving 12 people dead, including five civilians.

The PM had then said terrorists are feeling frustrated as bullets are being defeated by ballots, referring to high turnout in the then ongoing state elections.

On Friday, though the border was silent, a woman was killed 48 hours earlier in Pakistan firing, fueling speculation. The PM didn’t make any reference to Pakistan but underlined the strength of democracy by stating that in politics no one is untouchable.

The statement is significant also as the BJP has formed an alliance with politically divergent PDP, seen as soft on Pakistan.

But the alliance with a party whose all 28 MLAs are Muslims, is believed to have given ‘secular’ credential to the BJP.

Modi was complimented by chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, PD P patron, who said he wants ‘saab ka saath saab ka vikas’the tag line of Modi- by bringing together two regions of the state, the Hindu- dominated Jammu and the Muslimdominated Kashmir.

Last ti m e, the PM had extended the Eid greetings by a tweet. T his time, he extended the greetings from a public platform in the only Muslim majority state in the country.

It could have a positive impact in Kashmir, where Pakistan remains a central theme of the political narrative, especially after his initiative to re-start the stalled Indo-Pak dialogue.

The visit was also important because it was his first after the BJP had come in governance for the first time in the state. Both Jammu and Kashmir re gions were anticipating major announcements.

Kashmir was expecting announcement for 2014 flood affected people, while Jammu was expecting AIIMS to be announced. The state government was expecting official announcement of about `70,000 crore financial package.

It’s being observed that the PM deliberately avoided the announcements as he didn’t want the media to take the focus from his visit to the state. But, it did leave some sour taste.

The AIIMS coordination committee, which is spearheading the campaign for the AIIMS in Jammu, said though the people were expecting an announcement, we are hopeful that the PM will not disappoint people of the Jammu region, who had voted overwhelmingly for the BJP.

Deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh has given assur- ance that the AIIMS will be announced before or on July 20.

The Eid is being celebrated in the state on Saturday and its festivity will continue for another two days, coinciding with the deadline period.