The Hindu : Declare Pakistan a terrorist state, says BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 28, 2002

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National

Declare Pakistan a terrorist state, says BJP

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI MAY 27. The Bharatiya Janata Party today made it clear that it wanted "hard steps'' against Pakistan, the President of which was "not to be trusted at all,'' irrespective of "whatever new statements he may make.''

The party virtually suggested that India should go ahead and declare Pakistan as a state sponsoring terrorism and break off all contacts with it.

"Time has come to declare Pakistan a state sponsoring terrorism and break off all kinds of contacts'' with the country which would continue to be a "hostile neighbour'' for a "long time to come.''

To tackle this situation, the country would have to make up its mind to adopt all possible defensive and, if necessary, offensive measures. "We want to crush them (Pakistan) forever,'' the BJP general secretary, Sunil Shastri, said.

In a statement released by the foreign affairs committee of the party at a press conference by Mr. Shastri, the party said it viewed the testing of the Ghauri and Ghaznavi missiles by Pakistan over this weekend as a "crude attempt to threaten India with the possibility of the nuclear strike.''

A large number of countries had disapproved of the testing, especially at this juncture when tensions between India and Pakistan were very high, Mr. Shastri commented.

The BJP noted the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's statement from Manali on Sunday that India should have struck back immediately after the December 13 attack on Parliament, but that it had preferred to allow the international community to use diplomatic means to make Pakistan see reason and end cross-border terrorism.

Mr. Shastri, however, did not clarify whether the party was once again in favour of diplomacy taking over and allowing some more time to the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, and whether it had been a mistake on the part of the Government to have not retaliated immediately after December 13.

RSS accuses Cong. of `treachery'

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh lashed out at the Congress, charging it with "treachery'' and "irresponsibility'' on national security issues and accused it of indulging in "political one up-manship'' and "jeopardising the security and honour of the entire country.''

In a statement by the joint spokesperson of the RSS, Ram Madhav, the organisation hit out at the Congress for suggesting in its recent AICC session that the Vajpayee Government was being run by the RSS. "People at the helm'' of affairs in the Government were quite capable and could not be charged "even in the wildest imagination'' with "being run by proxy,'' Mr. Madhav said.

The statement made no reference to the RSS brass meeting Mr. Vajpayee at his residence to discuss policy matters on several occasions. Nor did it talk of the direct interference in the appointment of the Finance Minister by the Prime Minister in 1998. Instead, it said that there was no question of the RSS interfering in the running of the Government.

The statement blamed the Congress for not advising the Government on how to tackle the terrorist menace, which it would have done if it had been serious about combating terrorism.

The Congress had no sympathy for the Hindu victims of the Gujarat riots and it was shedding crocodile tears for the Muslims killed in the riots, it alleged.The RSS also charged the CPI (M) with lapping up the Congress' resolutions "with extraordinary enthusiasm,'' betraying their desire to join a future coalition Government headed by the Congress and dreaming of "barging into the portals of power through the backdoor.''

Not unexpectedly, it remained silent on the 24-party coalition, NDA, which had helped one-MP, two-MP and five-MP parties gatecrash into the corridors of power.

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