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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Monday questioned the wisdom of keeping the troops on the Indo-Pak border in a "standstill" when Pakistan continued to push in militants and target civilians.
Speaking in the state assembly, Abdullah said he had often wondered why the Union government remained quiet each time Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf threw challenges at the country.
"What is our response to this [the challenges], merely saying that we won't fire the first shot of war?" he asked.
"Every day our people, as also my party workers, get killed by militants, but we are not moved," the chief minister said while responding to opposition members' allegations of government inaction in the wake of Saturday's attack on Raghunath Temple complex.
"Before criticising us, why don't they ask the Centre to act," he said pointing to the Bharatiya Janata Party benches in the House.
He also told the House that the state government had requested the Centre for more troops.
"We have requested the Centre for making available more security forces to set up security pickets in the militancy-affected areas in the state," he said.
With inputs from Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar
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