Terming Monday’s terror attack in Kathua — in which five Army soldiers were killed and five others injured — a “strategic failure”, the Congress on July 9 asked the government to take the country into confidence, detailing the steps it was taking to counter the increased presence of terror groups in the Jammu sector.
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Congress’s Lok Sabha member and senior leader Deepender Singh Hooda, addressing a press conference in Delhi, expressed “deep concern” over the incident and assured that the party was committed to cooperating with the government on the issues of national security. He said the party remained steadfast in its support for the Army and other security forces.
‘Disturbing trend’
“There is a disturbing trend of growing number of terror attacks in the Jammu sector, which, in comparison to the Valley, has always remained more peaceful. One of the reasons, as per many veterans, is the heavy deployment of forces in the Ladakh region because of the ongoing Indo-China conflict, while not paying enough attention to the Jammu sector,” Mr. Hooda said. He urged the government to remain more alert to the threats and castigated it for being “overconfident”. “The government is more invested in presenting its own narrative. When demonetisation was brought, the government had claimed it will help in controlling terrorism. They used the same arguement for abrogating Article 370,” Mr. Hooda said.
There was also growing concern about the government’s foreign policy, with even neighbouring countries such as Nepal and the Maldives refusing to cooperate with India. “The government needs to take the country into confidence and explain the steps they are taking to tackle this situation. It is a strategic failure that the area [Jammu] which had been largely peaceful is seeing such a spate of terror attacks,” Mr. Hooda added.
