The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the United Progressive Alliance government in Lok Sabha accusing it of failing to check the growth of extremism and insurgency in the country and turning it into a 'soft state'.

Initiating a debate on the Demands for Grants of the Home Ministry, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said the government had withdrawn anti-terror laws like POTA even when nations like the US had implemented strict terror laws in the aftermath of 9/11.

Countering the charges, Congress member Madhusudan Mistry targeted BJP-ruled states, especially Narendra Modi-led Gujarat, 'for giving a free hand to rioters who attack minorities'.

Questioning erstwhile NDA government's role in containing terror attacks across the country, Mistry said when Parliament was attacked and a large number of temples like Akshardham faced terror strikes, POTA was in place.

"But the BJP-led government failed to contain them," Hussain said police modernisation only meant giving them uniform and boots but not sophisticated weaponry to counter the growing spread of naxalism and insurgency.

The BJP leader said the demand for reducing the level of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir was being made by anti-national forces and those who did not want to anger Pakistan.

On relations with Pakistan, he said though Indo-Pak relations should improve further, 'it should not be on their terms. We should also stop Islamabad from making statements on internal affairs of India'.

He said the government should not act like a 'soft state' against terrorists and naxalites who had formed a 'red corridor from Pashupati to Tirupati'.