Why it's time Modi sarkar stopped giving 'befitting reply' warning to Pakistan

The Narendra Modi government issued "strong" statements warning Pakistan of "befitting reply" after terror-group Lashkar-e-Taiba ambushed a bus ferrying 40 CRPF personnel on the Srinagar-Jammu highway on Saturday, killing eight and seriously injuring 22 of them. But have we not been hearing such "strong" statements for too long now? Unfortunately, the people are still awaiting any "befitting reply".

The bus full of CRPF soldiers was returning to Srinagar after a routine firing exercise when it was laid siege by two terrorists armed with hand grenades and AK 47s. Defence minister said he "doubted if the SOP (standard operating procedure) was followed properly". On his part, Union home minister Rajnath Singh sent a committee to Pampore to look into any lapses in the handling of the terror attack.

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The two senior ministers of the Narendra Modi government, who also are part of the key Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), once again issued stern warnings which we have been hearing for a long time but without any matching action.

Singh said, "We won't fire first but if Pakistan fires then we won't keep an account of our bullets," and added that the neighbouring country was trying to destabilise India.

Parrikar called the attack "as an act of frustration on the part of the terrorists and reiterated that the government would strongly deal with such cases. "In the last one month, over 25 terrorists have been killed by security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. It is an act of frustration on their (terrorists') part to show that they still hold power," he said.

The defence minister made another statement which may court controversy. He said, "I told jawans that I respect martyrdom but you are trained to kill the enemy, not to die."

The statement gives the impression that the jawans so far had been asked not to kill but to die - the opposite of the famous patriotic song "Sur kataa sakte hain lekin, sur jhukaa sakte nahin, apni azaadi ko hum hargiz mita sakte nahin" from the 1964 Hindi film Leader.

Anyways, after these statements, will we see a tactical change in the position of our security forces vis-a-vis the terrorists? Will we see the security forces adopt an aggressive posture, killing more terrorists instead of proving to be sitting ducks for them?

We would have been very happy if this happens. However, this unfortunately is unlikely to happen. Because we have been hearing this even before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections were held.

It seems the BJP government speaks in two voices - one when it is in the opposition and the other when it is in power.

As Gujarat chief minister then, Modi would slam then prime minister Manmohan Singh for having a soft corner for Pakistan. He spoke of giving a befitting reply to Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism. He had also claimed that he would bring back underworld don Dawood Ibrahim from Pakistan if he became prime minister.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, as the then leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, had made the famous statement on the occasion of severing of head of soldier Hemraj by Pakistani security forces. "If his (Hemraj's) head could not be brought back (from Pakistan), we should get at least ten heads from there side," she had said after visiting Hemraj's family in January 2013. Rajnath Singh and Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, who was the then BJP president, had accompanied her.

Incumbent BJP president Amit Shah has also been warning Pakistan of a "befitting reply" to the repeated ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan. "Home minister Rajnath Singh has clearly said that if Pakistan resorts to firing, we will definitely give a befitting reply to them," Shah said in August 2014 soon after taking the chair.

However, when it comes to corresponding action either against terror or Pakistan, the BJP-led NDA government's moves leave much to be desired. Several incidents of terror have taken place in the Kashmir Valley itself since Modi came to power.

In May, terrorists shot dead three Indian policemen at point-blank range. In February, they attacked a bus carrying a police party near Srinagar, before breaking into a training institute.

On January 2, Pakistani terrorists attacked Pathankot Air Force base killing six Indian Air Force personnel, injuring eight. National Security Guard's Lt Col Niranjan was also martyred in the deadly attack.

It is time the Modi government walked the talk or stopped talking of "befitting reply". It will earn the support of the people if the Indian security forces mount a counter attack on terror and teach Pakistan a lesson. In the absence of one such act, the government now stands the risk of losing credibility.