SRINAGAR: With the ceasefire currently holding along the Line of Control (LoC), political leaders are now visiting the long-inaccessible border belts of Jammu and Kashmir, meeting the families affected by cross-border shelling and drone attacks, and calling for urgent relief, comprehensive compensation, and lasting security measures.
People’s Conference (PC) president Sajjad Gani Lone, after visiting the border village of Tangdhar in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, called for a full-scale assessment of property damage in the frontier villages. “These houses were destroyed not due to personal animosities but in a war-like situation,” Lone told reporters. “It’s disgraceful to offer a few pennies as compensation for homes destroyed in a national conflict.”
Lone described the existing compensation model as archaic and inadequate. “Our traditional categorisation — half or fully damaged — does no justice to the actual losses running into crores. We need a new model involving the Roads and Buildings and Revenue Departments,” he said, calling for innovative assessment mechanisms.
Pushing for better safety infrastructure, Lone advocated individual bunkers for each household in border zones. “If homes are sanctioned under PMAY, why not bunkers for border families? You can’t keep civilians at the front without any protection,” he said. He also made a broader appeal against war, calling it a path that leads only to misery and devastation. “As a citizen, I’ve never seen war yield any decisive outcome.”
In Jammu’s Poonch district, senior Congress leader and JKPCC president Tariq Hameed Karra undertook a day-long tour of affected villages, accompanied by several top party leaders. Karra visited bereaved families, including that of Qari Mohammad Iqbal and another civilian killed in Bandichechian. He slammed a section of the national media for wrongly labelling one of the martyrs as a terrorist, calling for legal action and expressing solidarity with the aggrieved family.
Karra criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to even mention Poonch in his recent address. “This district has borne the brunt of the shelling, yet the PM has not acknowledged its suffering. The Government must announce a special package and convene an all-party meet to discuss the situation, from the Pahalgam massacre to the ceasefire brokered by a third country,” he said.
In the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, former deputy chief minister Tara Chand also visited relief camps and affected villages like Danna Chapri, Sajwal, and Kot Mehra. He demanded 10-marla residential plots and Rs 5 lakh compensation for every family living in the firing range.
“Forward areas are practically empty, and displaced people in camps lack basic amenities. Relief materials are being distributed selectively,” Tara Chand alleged. He also urged the immediate construction of community bunkers and financial aid for border landowners who have lost crops and livestock.
BJP state president Sat Sharma, who led a delegation to shelling-hit Surankote, also condemned Pakistan for its continued aggression. He met grieving families, including the parents of twin children Zoya and Ayan who were killed in the Chaktru sector. “After the Pahalgam massacre, PM Modi assured retribution. That promise has been delivered. Now we must also ensure relief and security for our citizens,” he said.
Sharma said the people of Surankote were justified in demanding compensation, recognition as a border area, and stronger defences. “Pakistan must end its sponsorship of terror. Talks are off the table until then,” he said, reiterating the Modi Government’s commitment to national security and civilian protection.
The BJP team included senior leaders such as Dr Devinder Kumar Manyal, Vibodh Gupta, and Dr Shehnaz Ganai. The leaders assured the local population that both the Union and the UT administrations were working towards prompt rehabilitation.
