Pahalgam Cabinet Meet

The decision by the Omar Abdullah-led government to hold a special cabinet meeting in Pahalgam, over a month after a deadly terror attack in the area, is a welcome and necessary move. The timing and location certainly carry a clear political and symbolic weight.

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Twenty six people - 25 tourists and one pony operator - were killed in the attack at Baisaran Valley in the hill station. Since then, not just Pahalgam but the entire Valley has witnessed a sharp decline in visitor footfall. This has impacted local livelihoods and further deepened the sense of insecurity. Convening a high-level government meeting in the same town is intended to convey a message of normalcy, reassurance, and defiance in the face of fear.

This is the first such meeting during the current tenure of the National Conference government to be held outside the conventional administrative capitals of Srinagar and Jammu, something that signals a deliberate departure from protocol for the sake of public messaging.