New Delhi: Maintaining that cross border
terrorism remains the most pervasive threat, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on Monday said there is credible information of
ongoing plans of terrorist groups in Pakistan to carry out
fresh attacks in India.
Addressing a conference of the Chief Ministers on
Internal Security, he said the area of operations of these
terrorists today extended far beyond the confines of Jammu and
Kashmir and covered all parts of the country.
Noting some "disturbing trends" in Jammu and Kashmir,
the Prime Minister said that the levels of infiltration, which
had come down very substantially, have seen a surge this year
along side an increase of infiltration attempts.
He said after the Mumbai attack, a number of additional
measures have been put in place but "there is need for continued
vigilance".
Home Minister P Chidambaram, who in his opening
statement had said that absence of terror attack in last eight
months does not mean that the threat has vanished or receded,
told reporters at the end of the conference that there are
terrorist groups plotting attack against India but there is no
specific threat of an imminent attack.
"...but that does not mean that, as I speak to you,
there is a specific threat of an imminent attack anywhere.
There are groups which are plotting against India. Therefore
the threat against India remains. But that does not mean that
there is an imminent threat and imminent attack tomorrow or
day after," Chidambaram said.
Asked whether India should follow "trust and verify"
policy with Pakistan, Chidambaram said "Yes. I think that is a
wise policy statement made after careful deliberations. We
must trust and verify in our dealings with Pakistan".
He said that was what the Prime Minister said and "if
you want in colourful language, I can say we should keep our
powder dry".
Chidambaram said none of this was contradictory to each
other. "The broader thrust of the Prime Minister`s statement
is that we must trust but verify is a very wise policy".
In his speech, the Prime Minister said in dealing with
the terrorist challenge the country needs to be prepared for
encountering more sophisticated technologies and enhanced
capabilities. "We also need to guard our sea frontier as
vigilantly as our land border," he said.
Terming Left Wing extremism as a serious challenge,
Singh said there have been heavy casualties inflicted recently
on security forces by naxalite groups and there are
indications of more offensive by these groups.
The Prime Minister said the problem of Left Wing
extremism was a complex one and there was a need for a
balanced and nuanced strategy to deal with it.
"On the one hand the state should discharge its
responsibilities and obligations and re-establish the rule of
law in areas dominated by the naxalites. At the same time we
should work towards removing the causes which lead to
alienation of people and problems like naxalism," he said.
Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said there were
signs of revival of over-ground militant activities and
attempts were being made to link isolated and unconnected
incidents -such as those which occurred in Shopian, Sopore,
Baramulla- to create an impression of a groundswell of
anti-India feeling.
"All these shows that efforts to disturb the current
status quo have not been given up. Fortunately, the annual
Amarnath Yatra passed off without incident, a tribute to the
secular character of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Singh said the country has not witnessed any serious
communal incidents in the past five years, though states like
Maharashtra and Karnataka need to exercise greater vigil to
maintain communal peace.
"Karnataka, in particular, has witnessed a number of
communal incidents during this year. What is more worrisome is
that the incidents were not limited to one or two districts.
Like in other areas of internal security, we must all be on
our guard against attempts by fanatics to accentuate communal
problems, disturb the peace and weaken the fabric of our
inclusive society," he said.
In his speech, Chidambaram said the country has not
witnessed any major terror attack since the 26/11 Mumbai
attack due to the "better intelligence and better preparedness
that helped us thwart potential terror attack".
"We have cracked several terror modules and made several
significant arrests," he said.
Announcing a two-pronged strategy to deal with naxals,
Chidambaram said the Centre and the states would act together
to overcome all challenges posed to internal security.
"We will talk, we will act, we will restore order and we
will undertake developmental activities" in naxal-hit areas,
he said adding the affected states have resolved to confront
and overcome the challenge of the CPI(Maoists).
Explaining the two-pronged approach, he said first the
territory under naxal dominance would be freed from the
Maoists and then development activities would be carried out.
Addressing the conference, Gujarat Chief Minister
Narendra Modi accused the UPA government of playing politics
while dealing with terrorism.
He said he "fails to understand" why the Centre returned
anti-terror bill GUJCOC proposed by his state.
"When it comes to dealing with terrorists, we must draw a
clear line between those who are on their side and those who
are on the side of society," he said referring to the Centre
rejecting his government`s Gujarat Control of Organised Crime
(GUJCOC) Act.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said there is an
urgent need for a security audit along the state`s border with
Nepal to check infiltration, smuggling of narcotics and fake
currency.
"We have a long 726 km porous border with Nepal. You are
very well aware of the political turmoil and recent activities
in that country. These give rise to serious and genuine
concerns," he said.
Facing a threat from both terrorism and naxal violence
in his state, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan demanded
Rs 500 crore from the Centre for projects to strengthen and
upgrade its capabilities to fight the menace.
"Maharashtra is under threat from urban terrorism on
the West and Left wing terrorism on the East," he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah appealed
to the Centre and political parties to take a "pragmatic view"
on lifting AFSPA from the districts where terrorist activities
are "minimal".
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said there was
strong possibility of Islamic extremists establishing "sleeper
cells" in the state with the help of active members of NSCN
(I-M).
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi made a strong
case for Centre meeting the full expenditure towards manpower
for internal security management and extending police
modernisation scheme for another ten years beyond 2009-10.
Bureau Report
