The Hindu : Cong. leaders meet Advani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 25, 2003

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National

Cong. leaders meet Advani

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MARCH 24. Senior Congress leaders met the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, here this evening to discuss the situation in Jammu and Kashmir following the massacre of Kashmiri Pundits in the Pulwama district early this morning.

Meanwhile, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi — who issued a statement condemning the massacre and extending support to the families of the deceased in their hour of grief — is scheduled to visit the village on Tuesday.

The Congress leaders — Manmohan Singh, Shivraj Patil, Ambika Soni and Gulam Nabi Azad — are said to have apprised Mr. Advani of the situation on the ground, and reiterated the party's demand for deployment of more Central forces in the State.

The meeting took place shortly after Mr. Azad — who is the Chairman of the Coordination Committee of the PDP-Congress coalition Government in the State — arrived in the capital after visiting the site of the massacre. Talking to reporters on his arrival here, Mr. Azad said the Centre could not abdicate its responsibility vis-à-vis the security situation in the State as records showed that the foreign element among militants had gone up from five per cent in 1997-98 to 80 per cent.

Trying to hold the Centre accountable, Mr. Azad said he had also asked the State Government to tone up the security network as eyewitnesses had informed him that the police presence in the village had come down from 20-30 personnel to half-a-dozen over the past five years.

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