New Delhi: Opposition leaders have accused the Union government of “misleading” the all-party meeting after a senior J&K government official was reported to have said that “police authorisation has never been sought for the tourist spot, which is open throughout the year barring snowy months” while referring to the Baisaran meadow where 26 civilians were killed in a terror attack on April 22. The Hindu in its report cited a J&K official as saying: “The Baisaran meadow has remained open for tourists for years.” A poster at the gate of the “picnic spot”, writes the newspaper, says that it is operated by the Pahalgam Development Authority in Anantnag district, and the cost of an entry ticket is Rs 35 per person.Earlier, The Wire had reported that at the all-party meeting on Thursday officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had informed party leaders that police permission was not sought for opening the Baisaran meadow, which only opens around June but was opened on April 20, and tourists were taken there without informing local authorities.In a statement on Saturday, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose questioned why the Narendra Modi government had sought to mislead the all-party meeting.“Why did the Modi government and the Home Minister Amit Shah mislead the opposition at the all party meeting by stating that no police permission was sought to open the Baisaran meadow where the massacre took place on April 22? The truth is that Baisaran meadow has always been open, no police permission is needed to keep this meadow open since 2020,” she said.Ghose said that the Union government and home minister Amit Shah were trying to pass the buck on taking accountability for the terror attack.“This meadow is only closed in the snow bound months. Since 2020 this meadow has always been open. The fact is that Amit Shah is again attempting to pass the buck. It is the Modi government which made Jammu and Kashmir state into a union territory and law and order now comes under the office of the LG which is under the union home ministry. Mr Amit Shah cannot escape accountability and responsibility. Don’t pass the buck Mr Shah. Take responsibility. Take accountability, it is your duty as home minister to do so,” she said.Congress MP and the party’s general secretary media in-charge Jairam Ramesh also cited The Hindu report to say that the all-party meeting had been “misinformed”.“It appears that the all-party meeting on April 24th chaired by the Raksha Mantri was not briefed properly. Actually it seems to have been mis-informed,” he said.The concern about security lapses and an intelligence failure was raised by the opposition members, The Wire had reported on April 24, the day the all-party meeting was held.Sources told The Wire that during the meeting, party leaders were informed that the area where the incident took place – in Pahalgam’s Baisaran valley – is usually opened to tourists around June and local authorities are required to be informed when tourists are taken there – which was not done, and small batches of tourists were sent to the area from April 20 without informing local authorities.Following the meeting, AAP MP Sanjay Singh had said to The Wire had said that the government gave a roundabout response when asked about how officials did not know that the area was open to tourists.“So how was it opened on April 20 without anyone knowing? Is this a joke? How did 500-1,000 people reach there without anyone’s knowledge? If terrorists knew that it had opened on the 20th, how did our government not know? They only gave a roundabout response to this,” he had said.