It's incumbent upon government to report the nature of surgical strikes: CPM

NEW DELHI: CPM on Thursday said “it is incumbent upon the government to report to the people the nature of the military action that was taken” against terrorists in Pakistan. In an editorial in the party weekly, People’s Democracy CPM said “days after this event, there is still an opaque curtain on what actually was undertaken that night.” Party said without making public the “nature of the military action that was taken the suspicion is growing that the government and the ruling party is seeking to convert what was claimed to be a pre-emptive counter terrorism strike into political grandstanding and to whip up jingoistic chauvinism.”The editorial brought out the contrast in reaction between India and Pakistan. It said that while Pakistan has taken media persons from the international media to their side of the LoC to confirm the position that Pakistan has taken that no surgical strikes were conducted, Indian government has become secretive.CPM said “whatever was done in terms of a military operation is now sought to be projected more to cater to the domestic constituency of the RSS- BJP and to create an aura around the prime minister as one who brooks no nonsense from Pakistan.”The editorial said senior ministers have displayed an “infantile triumphalism.” It pointed out statement by defence minister Manohar Parrikar stating “that Pakistan has not yet come out of the anesthesia delivered during the surgical strike and Venakaiah Naidu calling “Pakistan a thief which was bitten by a scorpion but cannot cry out.” “These statements seem to be meant to provoke Pakistan to retaliatory action which can then be used to escalate the military situation,” editorial said.CPM said if the Modi government has a “modicum of national interest in mind, it will desist from sabre-rattling vis-à-vis Pakistan and bend its energies towards strengthening the border security apparatus to counter cross-border terrorism.” Editorial said, “It should make it prohibitive for any extremist group to cross the LoC. At the same time, the Kashmir situation requires urgent political attention.”