It is the collective responsibility of states and the Centre to effectively tackle trans-border crimes, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday and asserted that the Narendra Modi government has recorded success on all fronts of internal security.
Shah was addressing a ‘Chintan Shivir’ organised here with the objective to prepare an action plan for the implementation of ‘Vision 2047’ and ‘Panch Pran’ announced by Prime Minister Modi during his Independence Day speech.
The government has also amended the Foreign Contributions (Regulations) Act (FCRA) that was being misused by some NGOs to conduct anti-national activities, religious conversion, political opposition of development projects and creating obstacles in development works, the home minister said.
“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,” Shah said on the first of the two-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ (brainstorming session).
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, the home minister said.
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, Shah said.
On the FCRA and some NGOs misusing it, he said, “In 2020, the government took strong action to stop foreign funding of such NGOs by amending the FCRA.”
While addressing the ‘shivir’, which is being attended by state home ministers and senior police officials, Shah said the Modi government has recorded success on all fronts of internal security be it Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast or narcotics smuggling.
“Our internal security is considered strong,” Shah said and also noted that “35,000 police and CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) personnel have laid down their lives to keep the unity and integrity of the country intact”.
He said all the areas considered hot spots from the security point of view have been cleared due to synergy and cooperation between states and the Centre. There is a 74 per cent dip in terror attacks and 90 per cent decrease in terror-related killings since 2014, Shah said, adding that this is a “big achievement”.
“We have entered long-term agreements with insurgent groups like NLFT, BODO, Karbi Anglong which have given a platform for the surrender of 9,000 insurgents to ensure long-term peace in Northeast,” he said.
Shah said the country has made big strides in tackling Left Wing Extremism (LWE), recording a decrease of 77 per cent in naxal violence and 87 per cent in lives claimed by it after 2014.
“Once upon a time, the red corridor between Pashupati Nath to Tirupati was notorious. States and the Centre have successfully fought this fight and achieved success… In 2014, 113 districts were affected by LWE, now it has come down to 46. It’s a big success,” he said.
He said a new era has started in Jammu and Kashmir after the abolition of Article 370.
“During 37 months after August 5, 2019, terror incidents have reduced by 34 per cent as compared to numbers recorded in 37 months preceding the date. Sixty-four per cent less deaths have been reported and civilian deaths in terror incidents have gone down by 90 per cent during the period,” Shah said.
The minister said that Jammu and Kashmir had received a total investment of Rs 19,000 crore till 2019 since Independence while in last three years an investment of Rs 57,000 crore has been made. This shows that the Union Territory has moved ahead on the path of success, he said.
“We have made important changes in the NIA (National Investigation Agency) and UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) to give more powers to the agency,” Shah said.
“The agency has been given extra-territorial jurisdiction. 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,” he said.
The minister said a large number of proposals to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have been received. “In a very short time, we will come up with new draft of CrPC and IPC before the Parliament,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi will address the ‘Chintan Shivir’ through video conferencing on October 28.
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.
