BJP raises objection to JK troop withdrawal

Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Apr 4: BJP today strongly objected to the reported withdrawal of military troops from Jammu and Kashmir and alleged the Congress led UPA government at the Center has withdrawn troops, by keeping the country and the Parliament 'in the dark'. Addressing a news conference here, BJP president Rajnath Singh today said his party condemns the act of withdrawal of troops from J&K, despite the Defence Ministry's recent statement that there would be no withdrawal of troops at any cost from J&K.

Mr Singh during his brief stop-over here, alleged that at least 6,000 military troops have been already withdrawn from the troubled state of J&K, as a result of which, terrorists have targeted minority Hindu community there.

Several people belonging to the minority Hindu community were killed in the terror attacks, soon after withdrawal of troops, he charged.

Mr Singh was on his way to a campaign tour for his party's candidates contesting by-elections for Lok Sabha seats from Jalgaon and Erandol near here. He also charged that the Congress-led UPA Government has failed on all fronts including National Security, Economy, External Affairs, especially on the diplomatic front.

Mr Singh said the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Kashmir has been celebrating in J&K on the withdrawal of troops, specially after the return of PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, to the valley after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. According to the BJP chief, the prime issue on the NDA's agenda was to eliminate terrorists while unfortunately, the troop withdrawal is the main issue on the UPA agenda.

Mr Singh said that his party will never compromise on four Kahmir-related issues including demilitarisation, joint management, open orders and self rule.

He also expressed surprise over the UPA government's talks with Pakistan, on the Kashmir issue without taking the Parliament into confidence.

Regarding demilitarisation of Siachen, he said the BJP is of the view that troops should not be withdrawn from there without consulting the military officials.

Referring to the recent bombings by the LTTE on the Colombo airport in neighboring Sri Lanka, Mr Singh said India needs to mediate in the issue, at diplomatic level, otherwise the situation in Sri Lanka may worsen like Nepal.

UNI