By IANS,
Shimla : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not tolerate any compromise on terrorism, the party’s senior leader L.K. Advani said here Tuesday and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to tell people how his government intended to deal with Pakistan.
“There should be no compromise on terrorism and the party (BJP) would not tolerate if there is any (compromise),” he said at the BJP’s Vijay Sanklap (victory resolution) rally.
The rally was organised to mark the completion of one year of the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh and to launch the party’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in the state.
“I urge the prime minister to clearly state how his government intends to deal with Pakistan in the last few months of his tenure. People of India have a right to know this,” Advani said while referring to the Nov 26 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
India has maintained that the 10 terrorists who attacked key places in Mumbai had come from Pakistan, but Islamabad has asked for more evidence.
“After the Mumbai attacks, the government has been sending out confusing signals… those in responsible positions are talking in different tongues, often contradicting each other,” he said, seeking clarity in the government’s stance.
Terrorists this year attacked a number of cities and towns of India, the BJP leader said. “The terrorists attacked every month in one city or the other. Most of the terrorist attacks lasted for two to three hours, but the Mumbai attacks continued for three days altogether.”
On the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) that was repealed by the Congress-led government, Advani said all countries, including the US and Britain, had special laws to tackle terrorism.
“When the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power, it immediately repealed POTA. After the Mumbai attacks, the central government was forced to take a U-turn on the need for a strong anti-terror law… we in the BJP fully supported the UPA government in the passage of two important anti-terror bills (during the last session of parliament),” he said.
Advani said the government had refused to check large-scale infiltration of Bangladeshis into India and also refused to hang Afzal Guru, convicted for his role in the 2001 terrorist attack on parliament, after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.
“The Congress has adopted a ‘no-turn’ policy as far as these important issues are concerned and this will prove costly for the nation and the Congress itself,” he said.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said his government, during the past one year, had achieved notable milestones in the fields of hydropower generation, industrialisation, education, development of infrastructure and in giving monetary benefits to the government employees.
He said the government was attempting to get the special industrial package for the state extended to 2013, as announced originally. The current package expires in 2010.