JAMMU, July 17: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Indian government of not doing enough to protect the people of occupied Kashmir, during a visit to a shantytown brutally attacked at the weekend.

“The terrorists are carrying out atrocities one after the other,” Sonia Gandhi said while speaking to a large crowd in the Qasim Nagar shantytown, where gunmen disguised as Hindu holy men struck on Saturday evening, killing 28 people and wounding more than 30.

“The question is how long will this go on? The central and (held) state government have to take steps to address this security situation,” she said.

Sonia recalled that she had in 1988 visited Qasim Nagar, near occupied Jammu, with her husband, late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who had helped establish the camp to provide victims of flooding with a home.

“I am deeply pained by this tragedy and have come to share your sorrows,” she said.

“It is imperative that the central and state government take urgent steps to address this grave security situation.”

Residents of the slum earlier said they were pinning their hopes for relief on the Congress chief’s visit.

“Sonia Gandhi herself has suffered like us as Rajiv Gandhi was killed by terrorists,” said resident Sikander Kumar. “We feel that she will have deep sympathy for the victims and sincerely help us.”

After addressing the crowd, Sonia handed out cash to families of those killed or wounded in the attack — 25,000 rupees (about 500 dollars) for relatives of those killed and 10,000 rupees (about 200 dollars) for those injured.—AFP