Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter to send an all-party delegation to Jammu and Kashmir, following the killing of six non-local labourers by militants in Kulgam district, PTI reported. The workers were from Murshidabad in West Bengal.

“The situation in the Valley is becoming worse with every passing day,” Chowdhury told reporters. “It is going out of our hands because of the wrong policies of the central government, which is only busy trying to hide the real situation.” The Congress leader added that while an all-party delegation had not been allowed to visit the Valley, MPs of the European Union had been taken to Srinagar.

A delegation of 23 Members of the European Parliament, mainly from right-wing parties, had on Tuesday and Wednesday visited Srinagar to assess the situation in Kashmir. On Wednesday, they issued a statement saying that Kashmir and its constitutional status is India’s internal matter, and that they would stand with New Delhi in its fight against terrorism.

Chowdhury asked Modi to ensure the safety and security of non-local woekers in Kashmir, as well as to see that they return home safely. The Congress leader also asked Modi to extend financial aid to the victims’ families from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.

In another letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chowdhury asked the Bharatiya Janata Party chief to start a helpline so that the family members can get in touch with their near and dear ones who are still in the Valley.

Chowdhury met the families of the victims in Murshidabad. After meeting them, he told reporters that he spoke to Shah on the phone, and urged him to make arrangements to bring back the bodies from Kashmir. “The home secretary told me that the DGP of Jammu and Kashmir [Dilbagh Singh] had a word with his counterpart in West Bengal for sending the bodies to the eastern state,” Chowdhury said.

Meanwhile, a Trinamool Congress delegation led by Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim will visit the family members of the deceased labourers, PTI reported. West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh criticised the move, accusing the party of trying to politicise the incident.

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