PM has futile meeting with Advani on terror, Amarnath

NEW DELHI: The internal security scenario prevailing in the country in the wake of the back-to-back terror strikes in Bangalore and Ahmedabad and aborted attack in Surat, and the situation in Jammu, where the agitation launched by the Shri Amarnath Suraksha Samiti (SASS) shows no signs of abating, figured in the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Opposition leader L K Advani here on Thursday evening.

The meeting, held at the prime minister���s behest, saw the two sides reiterating their respective positions on the burning issues. The prime minister, who was accompanied by his cabinet colleague Shivraj Patil and National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, is said to have outlined the measures taken by his government to combat terrorism. While several terror modules had been destroyed by the security forces in the past few months, the government said, there was a possibility that some elements could have escaped the dragnet.

Mr Advani, who was accompanied by his party colleague Arun Jaitley at the meeting, expressed dissatisfaction over the government���s ���track-record on the internal security front and its `weak reflexes���. Unless the government sent strong signals about its intention to crush terrorism, there could be no significant improvement in the situation, he argued.

The two BJP leaders also drew the government���s attention to the situation prevailing in Jammu, where there had been no let-up in the agitation launched by SASS for the restoration of 100 acres to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board. ``The situation in Jammu is fast spinning out of control, and the government must revoke the order cancelling the land-transfer to the Shrine Board to ensure normalcy in the region,������ they said.