Union Home Secy Ajay Kumar Bhalla to appear before Parliamentary panel today to discuss situation in Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh

New Delhi: Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla will appear before the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, headed by Congress leader Anand Sharma, at around 11:30 am on Friday in Parliament Library Building to discuss the situation in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. According to official communication, the agenda of the meeting would be to have a briefing by the Home Secretary on the situation in Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The committee would seek details of the number of arrests and detained persons in Jammu and Kashmir since 5 August, after the abrogation of Article 370 from the Union Territory which was then a state. The committee is headed by Congress leader Anand Sharma, Rajya Sabha member from Himachal Pradesh. There are nine other members from Rajya Sabha and 21 members from Lok Sabha. Out of these five are from West Bengal and the committee also has two members — Shamsher Singh Manhas from Rajya Sabha and Jamyang Tsering Namgyal from Lok Sabha — who are from Jammu and Kashmir. Government of India on August 5 abrogated article 370 and 35A. From 31 October, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were formally made Union Territories.