PM Modi asks ministers not to indulge in war hysteria

Army has shared footage of surgical strike with govt, says MoS for Home Hansraj Ahir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday advised his ministers not to indulge in chest thumping or create hysteria over the success of last week's 'surgical strikes' by the Indian Army on terror launch pads on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, government sources claimed.

In a related development, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said that the Army has shared the video footage of its surgical strikes it carried out on the night of 29-30 September. He said the laid down procedure has been followed.

There have been persistent demands from opposition leaders like Congress' Digvijaya Singh and P Chidambaram and also Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal to share the "evidence" of the Army action. Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam had termed the Indian Army action "fake".

Congress spokesperson R P N Singh on Wednesday said that the party favoured government releasing the evidence of the strikes but subject to considerations of national security. Singh said this was important to call Pakistan's bluff. Islamabad has questioned India's claims on surgical strikes. Nirupam continued with his criticism as he termed it BJP's "tamasha on national security" and the fact that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is to be felicitated by the Uttar Pradesh unit of BJP, a state due for polls early next year.

According to sources, the PM told his ministerial colleagues on Wednesday cabinet meeting that only authorized persons should speak on the issue of surgical strikes. Others, he said, should refrain from making comments or issuing statements. The PM also chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the second such after the 'surgical strike'.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have also been advised to be more taciturn in their comments on the issue and refrain from celebrating the event. A senior party leader, who didn't want to be named, conceded that to conform to such instructions was a tall order as not only media but also party workers, supporters and people at large wish to hear their leaders talk about the Army's response to terror attacks.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday called on the PM to discuss the situation on the border because of the continued ceasefire violations from across the border. The meeting lasted nearly an hour.

An independent Jammu and Kashmir legislator Sheikh Abdul Rashid on Wednesday claimed the Army was video graphing "fake exercises" in Leepa Valley near LoC to offer these as 'evidence'. Rashid is a legislator from the constituency.