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Participating in the Lok Sabha debate on the May 14 terrorist attack at Kalu Chak in Jammu, the veteran Marxist said the government should step up diplomatic and political pressure on Pakistan, initiate a political process in Jammu and Kashmir and increase border security to check infiltration. As a first step, he suggested offering autonomy to the troubled state.
Warning that Pakistan too was a nuclear power, Chatterjee said "jingoistic utterances" by sections within the ruling National Democratic Alliance calling for a war in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist strike would not solve the problem.
He also ridiculed the talk of a "limited war", saying according to eminent defence experts, there was no such concept. "We do not understand what is a limited war," he said.
Strongly condemning the Jammu massacre and asserting that Kashmir was an integral part of India, the CPI-M leader, however, said this did not mean that his party condoned the government's failure to check such incidents.
The people of Kashmir had been alienated by the policies of the Farooq Abdullah government, and no one was sure whether all sections of the state would participate in the upcoming assembly polls there, he said.
He also wondered whether Washington had reciprocated India's assistance in the war against terrorism by helping combat cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
The Attack in Jammu: The Complete Coverage
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