After five Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush by Pakistani troops in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch District late on Monday night, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a frontal attack on the Central Government on Tuesday, demanding that they take a tougher stance on border violence.
Former BJP President Nitin Gadkari criticised the Central Government for its apathetic attitude towards intrusions by Pakistan and China.
"This has damaged the initiative taken to mend the India-Pakistan relationship. The killing of five soldiers is extremely unfortunate. Sometimes, China intrudes into our country (and) sometimes Pakistan comes into Indian territory and kills our soldiers. The Government doesn't appear to have the seriousness it aught to with regard to these issues. The Government is constantly going on its knees before China and Pakistan," Gadkari said.
Gadkari also demanded immediate action by the Central Government on tackling border issues, as well as combating internal terrorism in the country.
"The ISI is sponsoring terrorism in our country. More unfortunately, the Government is carrying out fake encounters against innocent people. Thus, not only do we have threats at the border, but there are also internal threats to the country. It is very unfortunate. We hope that the Government will take strong action on both fronts," Gadkari said.
Commenting on Nawaz Sharif's public statement which expressed his desire to mend Pakistan's relationship with India, Gadkari said that the Pakistan Prime Minister cannot function on the basis of double standards.
"What peace does Nawaz Sharif want after killing five of our soldiers? The duplicate role adopted by Nawaz Sharif is not acceptable," Gadkari added.
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BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad also criticized the government for not approaching the Pakistan border issue with the correct attitude.
"The BJP's view is very clear, we condemn it and we would like to ask the Government of India how many more brave soldiers need to be sacrificed? We have repeatedly said that strict measures need be taken in this matter. ...We want that the Government of India takes a tough stance and corrects its attitude on the issue," Prasad said.
BJP Vice President Vinay Katiyar said the government cannot continue to brush aside border issues, as it damages the morale of the Indian Army.
"It has become the habit of Pakistan's forces. They derive some thrill in killing soldiers of the Indian Army. We don't take any action and instead continue to set aside the matter saying they will be brought up in talks. The issue has gotten very serious and this attitude demoralizes the soldiers as well. We suggest that the Government of India take some strong action this time," Katiyar said.
Additionally, former BJP President Venkaiah Naidu accused Pakistan of indulging in state-sponsored terrorism and said that he looks forward to a strong statement by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in Parliament paving a way forward.
"Pakistan are carrying on with these incidents with full awareness, as part of their state policy. ...Pakistan is aiding, abetting, funding and training terrorists, and then sending them to this side of the border. Pakistan has always done this. However, our government does not have a strong strategy to handle the problem. Every time they say that they are taking the matter seriously, only to not take any action later. ... We want the Prime Minister to give a strong statement about the way forward from here and Parliament to discuss the matter together so that we can formulate a strong strategy," Naidu said.
Television reports said Pakistani troops entered India to carry out the attack against patrolling soldiers along the LoC.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah confirmed the news of the death of the five Indian soldiers along the Line of Control that separates India from Pakistan on Tuesday morning via micro-blogging site Twitter.
"Was briefed early this morning about news that five of our soldiers had been killed on the LoC. My heartfelt condolences to their next of kin," Abdullah tweeted.
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Tuesday denied that it had fired upon Indian Army soldiers and killed five of them in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
"There was no indiscriminate firing from our side," a security official was quoted, as saying. He also rejected alleged reports of a cease-fire violation in the Ramgarh Sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Samba District on Monday.
