Operations against terrorists could be stepped up, says PM

VARANASI, OCT. 11. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today warned that operations against terrorists could be stepped up in Jammu and Kashmir and that the Centre would take decisions after due deliberations and wide-ranging consultations which were on.

Asked by reporters here about the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah's suggestion that the drive against militants be stepped up, Mr. Vajpayee said his Government would not shy away from intensifying security forces' operations against them.

Before leaving for Ballia for the centenary celebrations of Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan, he told presspersons here that India would never back out of the fight against terrorism, which affected it directly. However, he cautioned that terrorism should not be linked to Islam.

Some Muslim countries were trying to treat terrorism as `holy war' and were not supporting the current action against it. ``Terrorism is a mindset which is anti-human and can manifest itself in any country and at any time.''

Talking to reporters in Ballia, he accused some Opposition parties of trying to dub the fight against terrorism as a fight against Islam and said their designs would not succeed. The Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, told reporters in Ballia that he favoured stringent laws to effectively tackle terrorism. At a recent meeting of the DGPs in New Delhi, there was consensus that tough steps were needed to combat terrorism.

- PTI

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