Let Army care for security-related matters in Kashmir: BJP to Antony

Jammu, July 27 (UNI) Opposing any move towards troops withdrawal from Jammu and Kashmir, BJP today asked the Union government not to discuss security-related matters in public and leave everything to the care of army commanders.

In a letter to the visiting Defence Minister A K Antony, state BJP president Ashok Khajuria said his party was against the move designed to ascertain the views on whether or not the security forces be withdrawn from the state.

The BJP, Mr Khajuria said, had all along believed that security-related issues should not be politicised at the behest of any political party as such an approach is fraught with dangerous consequences.

''The BJP would appreciate if you could very kindly abandon the idea of reducing the strength of security forces in the state, and the Union government not to discuss security-related matters in public and leave everything to the care of the army commanders,'' he said in the letter.

Any move to lower the guard in J and K, Mr Khajuria said, ''would not only prove counter productive but would also help the subversives to accomplish their ulterior designs.'' The BJP leader, who was also invited to meet Mr Antony, hoped that the Defence Minister would ''refashion'' his approach in the national interest that can demoralise the army and security forces fighting militancy.

The government should avoid indulging in self-deception exercises, Mr Khajuria added.

UNI