Congress veteran and Rajya Sabha MP, P. Chidambaram on Thursday condemned Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha for conducting a security review meeting following recent terror attacks in the Kashmir Valley without the presence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
In a post on X, Chidambaram remarked, “The photograph of the LG of Jammu & Kashmir presiding over a meeting to review the law and order situation in J&K is telling... The elected chief minister is not present. Whether he was invited or not, I do not know.”
Chidambaram described Jammu and Kashmir as a "half-state," stating, “Under the law applicable to J&K, police and public order are subjects reserved for the LG. The people have elected a chief minister and government to look after their security, among other things, but the chief minister has no authority. This is why J&K is described as half a state; the immediate restoration of full statehood to J&K is imperative.”
Omar Abdullah took oath as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on October 16, becoming the first chief minister of the union territory since its reorganisation.
Earlier on Wednesday, a security review meeting led by LG Sinha was convened at the Raj Bhawan following an increase in terror attacks targeting migrant workers in the Kashmir Valley. On October 18, a migrant worker from Bihar was shot dead in a suspected militant attack in South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
Two days later, militants launched a deadly assault on construction workers associated with the Z-Morh tunnel, located in the Gagangir area of Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal District. This attack resulted in the deaths of seven individuals, including a local doctor and six construction workers.
Today, another local labourer was injured in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district due to a suspected militant attack.
In response to the escalating violence, LG Sinha has instructed police to enhance security measures around critical infrastructure projects currently under construction in the union territory.
“The police must ensure robust security and intelligence grids and intensify well-planned joint operations with the army and other security agencies to eliminate terrorism,” Sinha stated.
The meeting included multiple senior officers from the police, the Jammu and Kashmir Principal Secretary of the Home Department, and other civil administration officials. This review was necessitated by the recent attack in Gagangir, which claimed seven lives.
Follow us
