Security forces battling separatists in Kashmir or Naxalites in Chhattisgarh have to face not only their bullets but also face prospects of cases being filed against them for rights violations, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Thursday.
The attacks were demoralising and debilitating the security forces, party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. He demanded a clear-cut government policy on tackling the security problems. In Kashmir, a new strategy of stone-throwing was being used. He described it as a “low cost, high impact” mode of fighting for creating disturbance.
In Chhattisgarh, where the BJP government has been facing the Maoist problem, the party has consistently tried to blame the Centre for the heightened Naxal activity. “Let us clearly understand that Naxals are waging a war against the nation … The Centre should not pass the responsibility of fighting this menace on to the State governments,” Mr. Javadekar said.
In a similar vein, the former BJP president, Rajnath Singh, said in Bhubaneshwar that the Maoist problem was a “national problem and not entirely a State issue.” The Chhattisgarh government was trying to do the best it could.
Protests begin
The party also began its two-day protest against price rise, with several leaders leading rallies in State capitals and other major urban centres.
Addressing a rally in Ratlam, BJP president Nitin Gadkari said India was a poor country, and the subsidies for petroleum products should not be done away with.
Mr. Rajnath Singh called for a referendum to decide whether the Congress-led government should continue after failing to check prices.
