Par panel on Home calls off tour of J-K following terror attack

New Delhi: A key parliamentary panel has called off its scheduled tour of Jammu and Kashmir from April 25 following the terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam in order to avoid diverting the focus of the security agencies, which are currently fully engaged in handling the situation.The Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by BJP MP Radha Mohan Das Agrawal was to go on a study tour of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, both Union territories, from April 25 to May 1, official sources said.

However, Agrawal conveyed to the members of the panel the decision to defer the tour after the terror attack in which at least 26 persons were shot dead by terrorists.The sources said the decision was necessitated as the MPs, who are part of the committee, would have required heightened security and their engagements included interaction with senior security officials, including the DGP, and other top bureaucrats.

“At a time when they are fully involved in dealing with the aftermath of the terror attack, going after terrorists and reviewing other measures, it would not have been prudent to tax them with our requirements,” a source said.The panel members were expected to visit the Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and spend time in Srinagar, Gulmarg and Sonmarg among other places in the Valley besides in Ladakh.As both regions are Union territories, the Home Ministry is in charge of overall development projects there, the sources said, adding that the panel was expected to review these programmes as well.