Pak intentionally targeted civilians in Karnah: Sat Sharma

Kupwara, May 24: Jammu and Kashmir UT Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sat Sharma on Saturday strongly condemned the recent shelling by Pakistan in border town Karnah of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, saying that “civilians were intentionally targeted in an attempt to derail the peace of the region”. During a visit of the BJP delegation to Karnah, he said that the shelling has left several families homeless and caused widespread damage to the property in the border town causing immense hardships for the victims.

Addressing the media in Karnah, Sharma said, "Pakistan wanted to derail the peace of the region, that is why Pakistani Army specifically targeted the civilian areas, however, it could not sustain its aggression for more than 90 hours and pleaded for a ceasefire at the international level," he added.

While referring to the compensation provisions under SDRF, Sharma said, "We know that the compensation being provided under SDRF is very low and not enough for affected families to rebuild their houses. We will push for a special relief package to help them reconstruct their homes before the onset of winter" he added.

Sharma said that he along with other party leaders visited all districts affected by Pakistani shelling and assured that the matter would be taken up with the Union Home Minister soon. "We will meet Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha today and will also seek a meeting with the Home Minister in the coming days to apprise him of the situation. We will certainly request and push for a timely and adequate compensation for all the affected families across Jammu and Kashmir" BJP UT President said. While referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remarks in Rajasthan, Sharma said that PM has rightly said that unless Pakistan shuns terrorism no dialogue can be considered.