Home > News > Report
Advani headed for Nadimarg
Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar/Onkar Singh in New Delhi |
March 25, 2003 16:18 IST
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani arrived in Srinagar on Tuesday morning to take stock of the situation following the massacre of 24 Kashmiri Pandits while the PMO said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would go ahead with his April 18 visit to the state.
Immediately after his arrival in Srinagar, Advani flew to Nadimarg for an on-the-spot assessment and to meet the relatives of the victims.
Advani is later expected to review the overall situation in the state with Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and top officers of the army, paramilitary and state police in Srinagar.
Meanwhile, the chief minister has ordered a review of the security arrangements at all places in the Kashmir Valley inhabited by the minority community.
There are about 270 such areas in the valley and 'the security setup needs to be re-examined as the militants are picking up soft targets to create a fear psychosis'.
The Mufti reviewed the situation with army authorities and directed them to leave no stone unturned in tracking down the killers. He also ordered a probe into security lapses, if any.
Admitting the incident was a set back to his government's peace initiatives and efforts to motivate displaced Kashmiri Pandits to return, Sayeed said the elements behind the carnage are enemies of peace and the people.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office said he would go ahead with his scheduled visit to Jammu and Kashmir in April 18.
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had planned to move at least 250 families to Mattan and Khirbhavani under police protection before the prime minister's visit to herald the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to the valley.
"This massacre has come as a major set back to the state government's plans," a senior official of the state government revealed.
As a mark of respect to the victims of the massacre, the prime minister has cancelled a dinner to commemorate completion of five years in office. Instead, "a cabinet meeting is to be held on Tuesday evening," prime minister's media advisor Ashok Tandon told rediff.com.