Srinagar, May 20 -- The LG Sinha highlighted the Army's alertness and resolve in defending India's sovereignty, offering words of encouragement to jawans in Kupwara's Tangdhar sector. Abdullah said that the pain of the people living along the border was deeply personal to him as he assured residents of Uri that rebuilding their lives was the government's responsibility. Mehbooba urged the Centre to declare shelling-hit villages as "war-impacted zones" and demanded that civilian casualties be honoured as martyrs.

Taken together, these visits reflect how routine the conflict has become in the border belts of Jammu and Kashmir. Lives are upended. Houses crumble under fire. Children drop out of school. And even as the shelling halts temporar...