Concern over rising communal disharmony

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Thursday declared that Naxalism continued to be a major security threat. Speaking at the DGPs’ Conference organised by the Intelligence Bureau, said, “I take this opportunity to congratulate the security forces for their outstanding role in ensuring peaceful polling in the recently held Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh. The high voter-turnout has sent the right message to the Naxalites that common people of the area have reposed faith in our democratic polity.”

In his inaugural address, Shinde said, “Left-Wing extremism remains another major threat to our national security. Despite reduction in violence levels, Naxals have continued to target security forces and those reposing faith in our democratic polity. The attack on political leaders in Chhattisgarh and the killing of an SP in Dumka district of Jharkhand are instances of Naxal brutality. Central and State security forces, however, have achieved notable successes in restricting their areas of influence, denying them fresh recruits and eroding their top leadership. There has also been a drop in the casualty figure of security forces from 111 last year to 97 this year. On the other hand, the number of Naxals killed has gone up to 97 from 71 last year for the same period.

Shinde said Indian Mujahiddeen, which draws its motivation and sustenance from inimical forces operating from across the Western border, has been responsible for 3 out of 4 major terrorist attacks in our hinterland this year. These include Hyderabad twin-blasts and the series of blasts at Bodh Gaya and Patna. Another blast that took place in Bangalore was the handiwork of some misguided fundamentalist youth and remnants of Al-Ummah.

“I am happy to inform you that all these cases have been successfully worked out. I compliment officers of Intelligence agencies and police forces for having made critical breakthroughs in this regard. Here, I would like to make a special mention of the apprehension of Yasin Bhatkal, who was wanted in a large number of cases of bomb blasts in different parts of the country. Our security agencies have also arrested Abdul Karim, also known as Tunda, a wanted terrorist in different bomb blast cases.

These arrests constitute a major breakthrough in our fight against the terrorism and demonstrate the resolve of the Government of India to bring to justice all those who commit crimes of terrorism in our country,” he said. The people of Jammu & Kashmir, he said, remain undeterred by threats from across the border and the huge voter-turnout in the recent panchayat elections bears adequate testimony to this. Peace in the last few years has paid huge dividends in terms of increased economic activities and record arrival of domestic and international tourists.

The Government is committed to development of J&K by focusing on infrastructure projects such as laying of a new rail line across the Pir Panjal range. Various employment generation schemes such as Udaan and Himayat are also being vigorously pursued, he said.

Drawing attention to attempts being made to vitiate communal harmony, especially in the states of Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, he said all these states had witnessed a rising trend in the number of communal incidents this year. The most disturbing communal clashes took place in Muzaffarnagar and its adjoining areas in Western UP. More than 50 people lost their lives and nearly 50,000 people were displaced as a result of violence.

In most of these states, the triggering factors for communal incidents were trivial in nature and could have been nipped in the bud by effective, prompt and unbiased administrative action, he said. It is essential for all District Administrations to put in place an early warning system for immediate detection of communal issues.