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Dissatisfied with Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani's statement on Monday's attack on Jammu station, in which militants killed 10 people, almost the entire opposition staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Stating that the Jammu incident had shaken everyone, Advani said he had convened a high-level meeting on Wednesday evening to take stock of the situation.
The meeting, he said, would be attended by J&K Governor Girish Chandra Saxena, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, Defence Minister Jaswant Singh, the heads of para-military forces, the director general of military operations, the J&K director general of police and leaders of principal political parties.
He said he had told the governor and the chief minister to redeploy forces in a manner to ensure that no area was left uncovered. "We have to work together and assist them (the J&K government) in dealing with the situation," he said.
The House witnessed a furore shortly after Congress member S Jaipal Reddy raised the issue and agitated members demanded a statement by Advani.
Even as Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan tried to pacify the members saying that the home minister was in the Upper House, Advani rushed in to make a statement.
Reddy's notice for an adjournment motion on the issue was, however, disallowed by Speaker G M C Balayogi.
Meanwhile, opposition members in the Rajya Sabha took the government to task for not showing 'urgency' in coming out with an adequate response to the spurt in gruesome terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, including killing of rail passengers in Jammu station on Tuesday night.
Raising the matter during zero hour, senior Congress member Pranab Mukherjee criticised the government for its failure to prepare itself to deal with the situation, especially when there were fears of escalation of terrorist activities in the state after the failed Agra summit.
He said despite Advani's assurance after the Doda killing that the government would respond adequately, 'exactly opposite' was taking place.
Mukherjee was joined by Communist Party of India - Marxist member Nilotpal Basu who criticised the government for not fulfilling its commitment to come out with a statement after the visit of Minister of State for Home I D Swami to Kishtwar in Doda district.
Sharing the members 'anguish and concern' over the killings in Jammu and Kashmir, Advani said the government has convened a high-level meeting on Wednesday to come out with a 'comprehensive' strategy to deal adequately the growing terrorist activities in the state.
The government would come out with a detailed statement in the House on Thursday, he said adding that he regretted the delay in informing the House in this regard. The statement would be followed by a discussion.
"We are committed to firmly deal with to those indulging in the killing of innocent people," he said.
Mukherjee said that Congress had forewarned the government at the all-party meeting both before and after the Indo-Pak summit about the possible escalation of terrorist activities in the state and wondered why the government had not taken adequate steps to deal with the situation.
Joining Pranab Mukherjee, Basu said the government was dealing the situation with a 'clay hand rather than iron hand' and it owed an explanation to the country.
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