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After Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah highlighted the need for coordination between the Centre, the J-K government, and LG for security operations, RJD MP Manoj Jha on Thursday stated that the security of the tourists should remain the topmost priority for all stakeholders, underlining that the Centre should conduct an open dialogue to address the issues of the territory.
Speaking to ANI, Jha said, "If you see, J-K is not a state yet. The Centre should talk about all issues (regarding J-K) openly, and it should not become a Centre vs state thing, but the safety of the tourists should be the topmost priority." This comes after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah highlighted the need for coordination between three power centres--the elected government, the Union Government, and the Lieutenant Governor's office--to ensure security and law and order in the region after the Pahalgam terror attack. Earlier on Wednesday, J-K CM Abdullah pointed out that the security of tourists currently resides within the powers of the Lieutenant Governor. Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Abdullah said, "The fact is that security and law and order are not the responsibility of the elected government. Whose responsibility is it? The Lieutenant Governor...There are three sets of power centres that need to coordinate to ensure that things go smoothly here... I can promote tourism; I can create infrastructure for tourism... However, the security of the tourists currently resides within the powers of the Lieutenant Governor. That is the point I made that the Union Government, elected government, and Raj Bhavan need to work together to ensure that what happened on 22nd April doesn't happen again..." On April 22, in a dastardly attack, terrorists killed 26 people, including one Nepali citizen, in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. The attack was one of the deadliest in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike, in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans were killed. CM Abdullah exhorted that his government is making efforts to restore normalcy in the region, for which the government itself has been conducting meetings here. To restore normalcy in the region, Abdullah has directed the Education Minister to resume picnics in schools and colleges and encourage visits to popular tourist destinations like Gulmarg and Pahalgam. He also chaired meetings to discuss the situation and plan for the future. He asserted, "Everything was stopped after April 22. Before people from all over the country come here, we should come first here. Hence, a cabinet meeting was called in Pahalgam yesterday and today a meeting of administrative secretaries and senior department heads was held...I have directed the Education Minister to ensure that picnics are resumed in schools and colleges and visits to Gulmarg and Pahalgam are made to move towards normalcy..." (ANI)
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