(Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari at Lance Naik Hemraj Singh's house)
National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon briefed BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj this morning on the situation at the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir. Sources said the BJP leaders have asked the government to act tough with Pakistan over the ceasefire violations in the last week and have also assured it of the opposition party's support.
The meeting, held at Ms Swaraj's residence in Delhi, lasted 45 minutes. On Monday evening, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called the two senior BJP leaders to discuss the Pakistan issue and assured them that his government would keep them in the loop. Mr Jaitley is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ms Swaraj in the Lok Sabha.
The government reaching out to the BJP leaders is seen an attempt to get the opposition on board and ensure political consensus on policy.
The BJP wants an immediate review of the level of engagement with Pakistan. As India honours an agreement to give visa on arrival to senior citizens of Pakistan at Wagah, the main opposition party wants a strong message to be conveyed to Pakistan that it cannot be work as usual on the diplomatic front while it violates the ceasefire agreement and norms of soldiering along the Line of Control.
The PM's call yesterday came soon after Ms Swaraj, who visited the home of one of two jawans killed by Pakistani troops last week, said in an aggressive remark yesterday that if India cannot recover the head of Lance Naik Hemraj Singh, it should at least bring back 10 Pakistani heads. "The incident that has happened, we should take revenge. Today, the country is demanding that we should not be proved a weak government... If we don't get this (Lance Naik Hemraj Singh's) head, we should get 10 of theirs (Pakistan army's)," she said at the martyr's village Shernagar, near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh.
The Indian Army has said that on January 8, Pakistani troops crossed over to Indian territory and ambushed Indian soldiers, killing Lance Naik Hemraj Singh and Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh and then mutilating their bodies. Hemraj Singh's body was beheaded.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari, who accompanied Ms Swaraj to the martyr's home yesterday, said the Indian government should "isolate" Pakistan. "The Pakistani government is provoking people with what they are doing," he told reporters, demanding an apology. "The government should isolate Pakistan as the incident has disturbed not just the family of the slain martyrs but also every Indian," he added.
The Congress has asked the BJP to leave the response to the incident "to professionals who are equipped and tasked with the responsibility." "Professional armies around the world respect rules of engagement. It is advisable that jingoism needs to be avoided," Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said today.