NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded that the Government make a statement on the leaked intelligence report of November 30, 2005 that Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives had infiltrated the Indian Air Force.

At a press conference on Friday, party general secretary and spokesperson Arun Jaitley referred to a report by a news channel that the National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan had with him an intelligence report suggesting the possibility of two LeT operatives having been admitted into the IAF. He had sent copies of that report to all Chief Ministers and all heads of intelligence agencies on November 30, 2005.

Mr. Jaitley said the country was entitled to know the truth and the steps taken by the Government.

The Prime Minister's statement of Thursday that the country was inadequately prepared to meet the kind of terrorist threat facing the country was not enough, he said.

Two former Prime Ministers had been assassinated; terrorists repeatedly attacked Mumbai, country's commercial hub; innocent people died in blasts; Parliament was attacked; the capital not spared; and religious places targeted.

In addition there was the daily killing of innocent people by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. But now it seemed that the terrorists had become bold enough to aggressively target the last bastion to protect national security, the armed forces, Mr. Jaitley said.

Legal framework

The BJP's prescription to meet this menace was: strengthen intelligence networks (Mr. Jaitley admitted that there could be weaknesses in the past as well when the National Democratic Alliance government was in power), widen security network, take aggressive diplomatic and political initiatives, and make legal framework for dealing with terrorists stronger.

"We expect the Government to reassure the country that it is doing the needful through a detailed statement," Mr. Jaitley said.

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