Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unlikely to hook up himself with any major political pursuit during his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir beginning on Tuesday. But his date with a state, plagued by years of political uncertainty and violence, has already set off political tensions particularly in the Valley afresh.
On the other hand, the series of “successful” militant strikes ahead of the visit have made the matters worse for the security forces’ authorities who are on their toes as the formidable militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahedin has threatened to carry out more such attacks in coming days through its specially formed “devotional squads”. The separatist political groups have called for a shutdown on Tuesday when the Prime Minister along with UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi will be in the state necessarily to flag off the first train connecting Banihal in Jammu region with Qazigund, the gateway to the Kashmir Valley.
This would be the Prime Minister’s first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after the hanging in Tihar jail of Parliament attack convict Muhammad Afzal Guru which had sparked off widespread protests in Kashmir Valley earlier this year. As the anger in public over the manner in which the execution was carried out persists, Sheikh Abdur Rashid, an Independent member of the State Assembly, has asked the Prime Minister to bring the moral remains of Guru along.
Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has demanded a public apology from the Prime Minister for “denying Guru’s lone child the last glimpse of his father before sending him to gallows.”
Politics apart, the dream-project of connecting Kashmir Valley with Jammu region through rail will be becoming a reality on Wednesday.
The 18-km-long track will pass through the country’s longest Pir Panjal tunnel. Officials say the rail line is expected to bring about socio-economic transformation in the Valley as the tourism is likely to get a boost besides the all-weather connectivity cutting short the surface distance by 17 km will help in the easy movement of people.
The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi are also scheduled to meet some delegations here on Tuesday and address a public meeting in southern Anantnag district the next day.
The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of the 850 MW Rattle hydro power project in eastern Kishtwar district, co-chair a meeting of the state council of ministers to review the implementation of the ambitious `37,000 crore reconstruction package and also release a stamp on Kashmiri revolutionary poet Ghulam Ahmed Mehjoor in Srinagar.