Haryana- Union Home Minister, Amit Shah said on Thursday that a new beginning of peace and progress has begun in Jammu and Kashmir since the revocation of Article-370 and the Union Territory has witnessed a considerable drop in terrorist incidents and the fatalities among the security forces.
Addressing a two-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ of home ministers of all states organised by the Union home ministry here on Thursday, Shah said that compared to 37 months before August 5, 2019, there has been a 34 percent reduction in terrorist incidents and 54 percent reduction in deaths amongst security forces in the 37 months after August 5, 2019.
“After the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, a new beginning of peace and progress has begun there,” Shah said.
“Jammu and Kashmir had received a total investment of Rs 19,000 crore till 2019 since Independence while in the last three years, an investment of Rs 57,000 crore has been made which shows that the Union Territory has moved ahead on the path of success,” he added.
The J&K Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha also attended the ‘Chintan Shivir’.
The Home Minister also maintained that the areas affected by Left Wing Extremism, Jammu and Kashmir and the North East, which were once hot spots of violence and unrest, are now becoming hot spots of development.
Shah said that the security situation in the North East has improved significantly in the last eight years and since 2014 there has been a 74 percent reduction in insurgency incidents, 60 percent in casualties amongst security forces and about 90 percent in civilian casualties.
“Apart from this, efforts have been made to establish lasting peace in the region by signing of agreements with the NLFT, Bodo, Bru, Karbi Anglong under which more than 9,000 militants have surrendered,” the Home Minister said, adding that With the restoration of peace in the North East, AFSPA has been withdrawn from more than 60 percent areas.
Highlighting the improvement in the situation in the LWE affected areas, Shah said the incidents of violence in these areas have come down by 77 percent and deaths in these incidents have reduced by more than 85 percent.
“We have made important changes in the NIA and the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) to give more powers to the anti-terror agency…The agency has been given extra-territorial jurisdiction,” he said.
“The agency has also got powers to seize properties of a terrorist. We have decided that every state will have a NIA unit to develop a strong anti-terror network,” Shah said.
The home minister said cyber crime is a big challenge before the country and the world today and the home ministry is committed to fight against it.
The government led by Narendra Modi is determined to save the country and the youth from the menace of narcotics and its policy is showing results, with drugs worth more than Rs 20,000 crore being seized so far, Shah said.
He also said that some NGOs have indulged in religious conversion, anti-national activities and misuse of funds to stall the country’s economic progress, and strong action has been taken against such entities.
He said that even though law and order is a state subject, crimes have become borderless due to advancement of technology and success can be achieved against such trans-border crimes only when states and the Centre sit together and formulate a strategy to curb them.
Shah also said that the government has amended the Foreign Contributions (Regulations) Act (FCRA) which was being misused by some NGOs to conduct anti-national activities, religious conversion, political opposition to development projects and creating obstacles in economic progress.
“In 2020, the government took strong action to stop foreign funding of such NGOs by amending the FCRA,” he said.
The home minister said it is the collective responsibility of states to effectively tackle crimes being committed from across the country’s border or states’ borders, and also deal with regional crimes to make society free from fear.
“In our Constitution, law and order is a state subject…but we can be successful against trans-border or borderless crimes only when all states sit together to ponder over them, make a common strategy and (make) efforts to curb them,” he said.
The nature of crime is changing in today’s world and crime is becoming borderless, that’s why the states have to formulate a common strategy to fight against it, he said.
Shah reiterated that it is the collective responsibility of states and the Centre to effectively tackle trans-border crimes.
The ‘Chintan Shivir’ is being organised with the objective to prepare an action plan for the implementation of ‘Vision 2047’ and ‘Panch Pran’ announced in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech.
The ‘shivir’ can become a good platform to discuss strategies to counter cyber crimes, narcotics and cross-border terrorism, among others, and to exchange good practices in law and order, he said.
Shah also said that a large number of proposals to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have been received, and these are being analysed.
“In a very short time, we will come up with new drafts of the CrPC and the IPC before Parliament,” he said.
The home minister said that importance should be given to three ‘Cs’ — cooperation, coordination and collaboration — to achieve the goals of cooperative federalism, “whole of government” and “team India” approach, resource optimisation and integration.
The Modi government has recorded success on all fronts of internal security be it Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast or narcotics smuggling, Shah said.
“Our internal security is considered strong,” he said, noting that “35,000 police and CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) personnel have laid down their lives so far since independence to keep the unity and integrity of the country intact”.
Shah said that all areas considered hot spots from the security point of view have been cleared due to synergy and cooperation between states and the Centre.
Development of an ecosystem for cybercrime management, modernisation of police forces, increase in usage of information technology in the criminal justice system, land border management and coastal security and other internal security issues will be discussed at the event.
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