Leaders visit encounter site, condemn attacks

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">JAMMU: Union defence minister George Fernandes and his deputy Chaman Lal Gupta, chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union minister of state for home I D Swami and National Conference chief Omar Abdullah visited the Raghunath temple here on Monday after the encounter with militants had ended.<br />Reacting strongly to a question on the state government''s approach in tackling militancy, Sonia said nobody could accuse her of being soft towards militants, adding she could never forget that two of her family members were killed by militants.<br />She visited the area outside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple where a militant was killed on Sunday evening, accompanied by former minister Ajatshatru Singh who is closely associated with the Dharmarth Trust which looks after the temple administration. <br />In his official statement made in the state assembly, now in session, the CM provided details of the two encounters in three pages. He was categorical in condemning the dastardly attacks and also declared that his government was ready to take all possible tough measures to stop such incidents. <br />His statement also included the warning from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which has owned responsibility for the attacks that similar attacks may continue in the future.<br />Ajatshatru Singh said the trust has appealed to the state government to provide fool-proof security around such religious places and pointed out that the Raghunath temple was targeted by the militants earlier this year in March.<br />George Fernandes, who was accompanied by corps commander of 16 Corps Lt-Gen T P S Brar, refused to speak to the reporters present on the spot, apparently because he wanted to avoid any comments on the state government''s handling of the situation. <br />In his remarks, Omar Abdullah said the state government led by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was well within its right to pursue the policies it deemed fit. However, the "healing touch" advocated by the PDP-Congress coalition government should heal and not kill and maim people, he added. <br />While readily admitting that such incidents had happened during the tenure of the NC government too, he pointed out that thet should not be allowed to be repeated in the same place and almost same manner (as has happened in the case of Raghunath temple attack). <br />Several MLAs of the Congress, including Madan Lal Sharma, Raman Bhalla, Yogesh Sawhney, Gharu Ram, besides top state officials, including director-general of police Ashok Suri and divisional commissioner Anil Goswami, spent considerable time in the temple premises. <br />Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was scheduled to host an <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">iftaar</span> party on Monday evening, his first as CM, but due to the grave situation that developed here on Sunday after the militant attacks, it has beeb cancelled.<br />Instead, he was busy holding a meeting of the prominent citizens from all walks of life on Monday evening. Such meetings have been held here in the past in the wake of militant attacks and are usually meant as a message to the people to maintain communal amity under all circumstances. </div> </div>