Stone-pelting: Advani says Pak waging a proxy war

The BJP has been labelling stone-pelting as new-age terrorism sponsored by elements in Pakistan.

Describing the incidents of stone-pelting in the Kashmir valley as proxy war,senior BJP leader L K Advani on Friday said some measure of firmness was required to tackle the situation. At the same time,he pointed out that security forces should use firepower sparingly and only to disable the protestors.

Todays proxy war,the stone pelting,is a result of Pakistans failure to win wars against India… the nature of the 1947 invasion has changed but the war continues, Advani said.

The BJP has been labelling stone-pelting as new-age terrorism sponsored by elements in Pakistan,accusing the Centre and the Omar Abdullah government of failure to control the situation.

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The strategy of trouble-makers is to use bullets with stones while targeting security forces. This shows the presence of militants in the crowd. It has been officially confirmed and shows that people from across the border are taking interest, Advani said. Some measure of firmness was required to find a solution to the problem,he added.

A day after PM Manmohan Singh suggested non-lethal measures of crowd control in the context of the Valley,Advani too felt that security forces should avoid using firepower on protesters and if they are forced to shoot,they should only disable them.