Surajkund, September 28
The Bharatiya Janata Party today expressed concern over the killings of elected sarpanches in Jammu and Kashmir and continuing threats to them, describing it as a clear sign of a rise in terrorism pointing at reports suggesting the active involvement of Laskhar-e-Toiba from across the border.

Stating that the National Conference-Congress alliance government in Jammu and Kashmir and the UPA at the Centre were in denial mode, the party alleged that its effort to draw the attention of the Manmohan Singh government to the terror threat to sarpanches was met with silence.

Addressing the party National Council, senior party leader Rajnath Singh said he had written to the Prime Minister 15 days ago that terrorists were killing panches and sarpanches and threatening democracy and that hundreds of them had resigned. We had sought security for the village leaders and pushed for financial powers for them, “but there was no response”.

In the political resolution, the party charged the Congress with following an “ambiguous and directionless” approach to terrorism. Nearly four years after the Mumbai carnage, Pakistan has not shown concrete evidence of its seriousness in dealing with the perpetrators of the attack, he said. Earlier, a BJP member moved an amendment, which was carried, highlighting the “twin conspiracy” of Pakistan in the Gilgit-Baltistan area of J&K by promising elections there. The member said the promise was not only against the legitimate claim of the area, but also sought to impose a democratic government while the real power remained with the Governor of Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The resolution also slammed the Centre’s silence on the J&K interlocutors’ report that refers to PoK as Pakistan-administered Kashmir and termed it as “condemnable”.