Members of India's nationalist Hindu-led federal coalition are urging the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to sanction cross-border raids on insurgent training camps inside nuclear-capable Pakistan following the attack by a suicide militant group on the country's parliament in New Delhi.
Security agencies claim to have intercepted radio transmissions linking the attack on Parliament House on December 13th to two Muslim insurgents groups fighting the civil war in northern, disputed Kashmir state. "Whatever information we have, indicates a link between Kashmir's insurgency and the attack on parliament," Kashmir's director general of police, Mr A. K. Suri said.
Twelve people, including a suicide bomber and four gunmen accompanying him died in the hour-long firefight that followed their assault on the impressive sandstone building. Four police officers, one unarmed parliament guard, a woman paramilitary constable and a gardener also died in the gunfight and grenade blasts. Nearly 20 people were injured. Some 400 MPs including senior ministers were inside parliament but escaped unhurt.
The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman, Mr V.K. Malhotra, said party MPs met Mr Vajpayee the day after the attack and urged him to "adopt a pro-active and hot-pursuit policy to destroy terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. "The government should take steps similar to the ones adopted by the US in Afghanistan," Mr Malhotra said.
Hard-line elements within the 24-party coalition have long wanted the government to adopt a "hot pursuit" policy in Kashmir that would allow the security forces to hunt Muslim militants over the line of control, which divides the war-torn state between India and Pakistan.
Mr Vajpayee refused to comment on whether his government was contemplating such measures against Pakistan, which India accuses of sponsoring the 12-year long insurgency raging in Kashmir that has claimed over 35,000 lives. Pakistan denies the allegation .
"I can't answer this question (about pursuing a hot pursuit policy ) now," Mr Vajpayee said.
He also played down suggestions that the government viewed the attack on parliament as an act of war, similar to Washington's response to the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. "This is a loaded question. Don't ask such questions. Give some time to the government" Mr Vajpayee said.
"The terrorist attack on the symbol of Indian democracy at a time when jihadi's (holy Muslim warriors) are on the run elsewhere reflects the widely perceived softness of the Indian state and the costs it is paying for its compromises with the forces of terrorism," said Mr Brahma Chellaney, former member of India's National Security Advisory Board. India's "talk tough but act meek" approach has emboldened terrorists to demonstrate that they can strike anywhere, anytime, " he said. The US has repeatedly urged India to exercise restraint in dealing with Pakistan, especially after Washington declared Islamabad a "close ally" in its war against Afghanistan's Taliban militia. "The government will rise to the occasion," the parliamentary affairs minister, Mr Pramod Mahajan said.
