Advani Vows To End Proxy War In J & K

Home minister LK Advani yesterday staked his political career on his ability to defeat Pakistan's proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir, using the first person mode while assuring the Rajya Sabha that, "if I am unable to defeat their plan, I will be bound by what I have already said in Doda."

He had stated there that governments who could not protect their citizens had no right to rule. Terrorism has been spreading. There were 17 deaths in Poonch yesterday, after 35 in Himachal, close to the border with the Bhaderwah area of Jammu the day before.

Advani promised to convene an all-party meeting soon to discuss terrorism, militancy and ISI activities, but added that all issues, including the deportation of the at least one million Bangladeshis illegally in the country must also be taken up without any political agendas.

He asserted in the Lok Sabha later that any citizen, speaking any language had a right to live in any part of the country and the centre would protect this right. More mutedly, he agreed with the opposition point that a person must not be deported simply because he spoke Bengali and belonged to a minority community. An irate opposition, led by Laloo Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav, however, walked out of the house.

Advani asserted in the Rajya Sabha that "we will not make anyone a political pawn." The minister held that, when the government had decided to focus on trying to control the situation in the Doda, Poonch and Rajouri areas of Jammu, it had expected that the militants may move into Himachal. But, he added, the area in which they had struck on Monday was "an extention" of Doda, where their activities had been concentrated.

He said that, although the situation in parts of Kashmir, like Gulmarg and Pahalgam, had normalised, Doda was yet to be controlled. He announced that the long-pending plan for the establishment of a cantonment at Bhaderwah was to be expedited. He also said that the army, para-military forces, state administration and police were working in tandem. Two or three years ago, they had often been working at cross-purposes, he held.