The Congress on Tuesday ridiculed the BJP claim of containing terrorism in the Jammu region, accusing the ruling party of misleading the public with “hollow assurances”.

The region has witnessed a sharp increase in terrorist activities, killing of pilgrims, and infiltration in the last couple of years, it remarked.

Interacting with media persons, senior AICC and Congress Working Committee member Gurdeep Singh Sappal highlighted the rise in attacks on civilians and security personnel in areas that were earlier considered relatively peaceful, asserting that the BJP’s claims of controlling terrorism are far from reality.

“The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that hours before the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Doda, terrorists struck in the same region in the Chhatroo area in which two soldiers of the Army attained martyrdom,” Singh said.

“The increase in terror incidents in the Jammu division is a glaring failure of the BJP’s security policy,” he said, criticising the government for being complacent and failing to adopt a comprehensive approach to combat the growing threat of terrorism in the region.

Pointing to the rising number of attacks in districts like Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, and Udhampur, the Congress leader emphasised that Jammu is no longer immune to the wave of terrorism that has traditionally plagued the Kashmir Valley. He accused the BJP of using national security as a political tool while neglecting the safety and well-being of the people living in Jammu.

Singh underscored the BJP’s failure to fulfil its promise of ensuring a secure and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir.

He, however, said that the ground reality paints a different picture. “The resurgence of terrorist attacks, especially targeting civilians, security forces, and infrastructure, demonstrates that the BJP’s approach to security in J&K has been ineffective,” he said.

He accused the BJP of adopting a strategy that is more focused on political posturing rather than addressing the root causes of militancy in the region.

Singh argued that the BJP’s claims of normalcy and development in J&K, particularly after the revocation of Article 370, are misleading, as the security situation remains volatile.