LoC attack: Let's avoid jingoism, says Tewari

With the Bharatiya Janata Party demanding tough action against Pakistan over the beheading of an Indian jawan along the Line of Control, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Tuesday said that jingoism needs to be avoided, and added that the response is best left to professionals who are equipped and tasked with the responsibility of dealing with this situation.

Tewari said there is no doubt about the fact that the entire country is outraged about the inhuman manner in which our armed forces personnel have been treated.

"The government has responded to it by not only expressing its outrage, but by defining it as some sort of a turning point. But what we need to keep in mind is that professional armies around the world respect rules of engagement. Aberrations of the rules of engagement are surmounted through tactical responses if necessary and the mapping of those tactical responses are best left to professionals. It is advisable that jingoism needs to be avoided," said Tewari.

"Nobody either in government or across this country is not personally outraged and feels personally violated by the inhuman treatment, which has been meted out. However, the response is best left to professionals who are equipped and who are tasked with the responsibility of dealing with this situation," he added.

National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon earlier in the day briefed senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley on the ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the LoC.

Amid escalating tension with Pakistan on the LoC, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh spoke to the senior opposition leaders earlier on Monday.

Dr Singh assured both the leaders that the opposition would be kept in loop over the situation.

Tension between the two Asian neighbours has escalated ever since Indian jawan Lance Naik Hemraj Singh was beheaded in an attack by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control on January 8.

Sushma Swaraj met the family members of martyr Lance Naik Hemraj Singh in Mathura earlier on Monday.

Swaraj, who was accompanied by BJP President Nitin Gadkari, demanded strict actions from the Indian government over the ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

"We would demand both things from the government-firstly to seek apology from the family and the country for the apathy and also take revenge from Pakistan. Today, the country is demanding that we don't prove to be a weak government. The country will not accept the fact that our soldier is beheaded after crossing the Line of Control (LoC) and there is no reaction in retaliation from the government's side," she told mediapersons after meeting the martyr's kin.

India had on Monday lodged a strong protest against the ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC and made it clear to it that the Army reserves the right to retaliate if provoked.

The army's position was conveyed at a brigadier-level flag meeting between the two sides at Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing-point in Poonch sector of the Jammu region.

Pakistan has denied India's claim that its troops crossed the Line of Control to ambush a patrol party in the Mendhar sector in Poonch district.