Comprehensive strategy needed to combat terrorism: Gen Malik

Jalandhar, May 18 (UNI) Former Army chief Gen V P Malik has stressed the need for a comprehensive anti-terrorist policy to combat terrorism.

''In the recent past, the incidents of terrorism have increased and due to lack of proper anti-terrorist policy, to some extent we are responsible for terrorism,''said Gen Malik, while speaking at the 98th Relief Distribution function of Shaheed Parival Fund, organised by the Punjab Kesari Group here today.

''Due to polarisation, political parties are not coming to one platform to form a comprehensive strategy, which is the need of the hour to combat terrorism, that is spreading its tenticles like never before.''he said.

Despite the peace initiatives, neighbouring countries were still trying to disturb the atmosphere here, he said, adding that terrorism related infrastructures were still intact there and the government was not pushing pressure to abolish the those training camps.

After the September 11, 2001 attack on World Trade Centres in New York, the USA and UK governments had enacted very strict laws to deal with terrorism, but politicians here were still debating and fighting over so called stringent anti-terrorist laws like POTA and TADA, which were far weeker then those compared to the laws enacted by the to USA and UK laws to finish terrorism, the former Army chief said.

Taking a dig at the Centre and state governmets over police reforms, he said neither the Centre nor the state goverments were serious in reforming the police force. Instead of dealing with the basic job of curbing crime, most of the time policemen were deployed in providing security to the VIPs, he added.

Gen Malik also called upon all the political parties to come forward at one platform alteast at the time of national crisis for the sake of people of the country.

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