NDA accuses Congress of ''playing'' with national security in JK

New Delhi, Mar 31 (UNI) NDA Convenor and former Defence Minister George Fernandes today cautioned against withdrawal of troops in Jammu and Kashmir and said the country could not be exposed ''to one more risk by the Congress regime''.

Mr Fernandes without naming Jawaharlal Nehru and the Chinese invasion on India said in a statement the 'Bhai-Bhai era' had cost the country 3,500 lives and it should not be again put at risk for the sake of Congress to retain in power in Jammu and Kashmir.

''The Army knows best about the security situation and it should be allowed to take care of the situation. The political game should not be allowed to be played in JK in the name of so called 'experts' to look into the demands of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), an alliance partner of Congress in the state.

In another development, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu linked the withdrawal of troops from JK with yesterday's killing of five Hindu labourers in Rajouri and said the BJP today took the Centre to task for not dismissing the PDP's demand on troop cut outrightly.

Mr Naidu said PDP's ''anti-national demand'' for demoralising the security forces should have been rejected outrightly by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

''Unfortunately the Congress party doesn't want to lose power in the state by opposing the coalition partner's demand and appointed an expert committee to look into the issue,'' he added.

This panel should be ''disbanded'' and the reports of Intelligence agencies and the Army should be made final, he asserted.

The massacre of Hindu labourers ''is directly linked to the withdrawal of troops from 37 areas listed by the BJP,'' Mr Naidu said.

UNI