Centre lax on national security: Rajnath

Calling reduction of troops from some areas of Jammu & Kashmir as unfortunate, the BJP president Rajnath Singh accused the UPA Government of compromising with the national interest for saving its rule.

Singh said that withdrawal of forces, which even the Army had accepted, may prove to be dangerous for the country. He strongly felt that the Centre should not withdraw forces till terrorist were active in the area.

The BJP president said although the Prime Minister had assured that the troops would not be withdrawn from Jammu & Kashmir but in last three months the forces were withdrawn. This led to a crisis in Rajouri and Doda, he added.

In a direct reference to PDP, he advised the Congress that instead of compromising with national interest, it should to tell its allies in clear terms that the forces would not be withdrawn from the valley till terrorism from Pakistan continued in J&K.

He alleged that the Centre was not taking internal security seriously, and added, while a more strict actions was required the Centre abolished the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA). This was done without bringing in any other similar act.

He also charged the Centre with being lax about the Maoists. Maoist problems are not confined to Chhattisgarh only. He said there was a need for joint action plan, but the Centre sat on the repeated demands.

Talking about Rani Bodli incident that saw murder of 55 policemen by Maoists on March 15 the BJP president said the situation in the State was under control. He also lauded the State Government approach to deal with Maoist violence, he told the media.