IS failed in India despite large Muslim population: Rajnath

Terror outfit Islamic State had not been able to set foot in India despite the presence of the world’s second largest Muslim population, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday.

Barring two terror attacks in Punjab in 2015-16, the security situation in the country had by and large remained under control, the minister said at a press conference on three years of the Modi government.

More than 90 sympathisers of the IS had been arrested due to better coordination between state and central security agencies.

Five terrorists of the Indian Mujahideen group were given capital punishment as part of the government’s focused efforts to check terrorism, Singh said.

"The home ministry has a major responsibility to provide security to the country. I can say that we have together by and large provided security to the country.

"India is the second largest country as far as Muslim population in the world is concerned. I can say with full responsibility that despite such a large population (of Muslims), the ISIS (another acronym for IS) has not been able to set foot,” he said.

The IS and the Ansar-ul-Ummah, frontal organisation of the Pakistan-based Harkat ul-Mujahideen group, have been included in the list of banned terrorist organisations in order to check terrorism.

"There is improvement in the security situation in the country. We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS,” the home minister said.

Comparing the previous United Progressive Alliance regime with the National Democratic Alliance tenure, he said a total of 239 terrorists were neutralised from 2011 to 2013.

"This number has gone up to 369 during 2014-17,” he said.

He said there had been 45 per cent reduction in infiltration attempts from Pakistan since the surgical strike by the Army in September 2016, compared to the corresponding six months in the previous year.

“We will end Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and ensure peace,” the home minister said.

Singh mentioned special initiatives being taken by the NDA government to provide skill and job opportunities to youths in Kashmir.

In the three years of the UPA regime (2011-14), he said, over 1,900 youths were provided skill training and jobs were offered to 1,591. In 2014-17, as many as 20,355 were given training and 30,175 were given job offers.

The remuneration given to Special Police Officers had been doubled to Rs 6,000 from Rs 3,000 per month, the home minister said. Besides, 10,000 new posts of SPOs were approved in addition to the existing 25,000.

Five new Indian Reserve battalions had been approved for Jammu and Kashmir.

"We have approved 63 projects under PM package worth Rs 80,000 crore for J-K,” he said.

Mentioning anti-Naxal measures being taken by the government, Singh said there had been 25 per cent reduction in Naxal attacks in 2014-17 as compared to 2011-14.

He said three years of NDA government had seen a 42 per cent reduction in deaths in Naxal attacks as compared to last three years of the UPA government.

The home minister said major development had been done in Naxal-affected states, including Chhattisgarh, which has completely destroyed ('kamar tod di hai') the support system for Naxal activities.

Over 2,000 mobile towers were installed and work for the installation of another 2,882 towers was in progress.

Besides, 358 new bank branches and 752 ATMs were opened whereas approval had been given for opening 1,789 post offices in Naxal-affected areas, he said.

“This development has never happened at such a fast pace,” the home minister said, adding that an air strip in Chhattisgarh's Jadgdalpur area would be made completely functional this year.

‘Resolving Kashmir will take some time’

Vowing to uproot Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Singh asserted that the NDA government isworking towards a permanent solution to the seven-decade-oldKashmir issue, though it may take some time. 

He said the Centre is open to talks and will take the people of the state and political parties into confidence for resolving the issue.

“The solution to the Kashmir problem cannot be found by just snapping our fingers. Kashmir is an old issue, it has been going on since 1947,” he said.

Singh was replying to a question on his recent statement that the government was working on a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue.

“We are working for a permanent solution. I have said this with utmost responsibility, after much thinking and deliberations. We have some plans and are working in this direction and will find a solid solution in future. It may take some time,” he said.

When asked whether the ‘permanent solution’ will be political or a military one, the home minister avoided a direct reply but said it will be a ‘comprehensive and integrated solution’.

On the possibility of initiating dialogue with Kashmiri separatists, Singh said he has been advocating talks with all concerned ever since he took charge as home minister three years ago.

“From the beginning, I have been saying that we are ready for talks. Whoever comes forward for talks, we will talk. We are open to talks to find a solution to the Kashmir issue. All problems can be resolved only through dialogue,” he said.

The home minister blamed Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir but stressed that the violence will not last long.

“There is no doubt, no confusion that Pakistani is fomenting terror in Kashmir. But we will ensure that terrorism is uprooted from Kashmir soon. The violence will not last long,” he said.

Singh said Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir for its vested interests.

“Whatever Pakistan is doing in Kashmir is a betrayal to the youths of the state,” he said, adding ‘we will not let them succeed in this’.

“We don’t want to see stones in the hands of Kashmiri youths. We want to remove any stone which can impede their path to a brighter future,” the minister said

Asked whether he supports an army Major who recently used a local youth as ‘human shield’ in Kashmir, the home minister said ‘the army is doing its job’.

When he was reminded that that Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu had supported Major Leetul Gogoi, who had tied a man to a jeep as a shield against stone pelting, Singh said ‘whatever Naidu had said was correct’.

Naidu had said Major Gogoi saved lives under ‘exceptional circumstances’, and the Army has appreciated it.

Asked whether he considers the current unrest in KashmirValley as very alarming, Singh said there were such situations in the past too.

“There were bad situations in the past too. We will control it and bring back normalcy,” he said.

‘Insurgency incidents have come down in Northeast’

Singh said the backbone of Bodo insurgent group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songobjit) has been broken by security forces, which has resulted in less number of violent incidents in the Northeast region during the three-year rule of Modi government.

As many as 911 NDFB operatives were arrested, 52 were neutralised a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered, he said.

“We have taken effective action against National Democratic Front of Bodoland/Saoraigwra or NDRB(S). There have been sustained counter-insurgency operations against them. Their back-bone has been broken,” he said during the presser.   

Singh said sustained security initiatives during the last three years have brought peace and stability to the Northeastern region of the country after decades of insurgency.

The number of insurgency incidents was lowest in 2015 since 1997 and further reduced in 2016. He said in 2014 there were 824 such incidents, in 2015 the number came down to 524 and last year it was further reduced to 484.

The civilian casualty in the Northeast has come down drastically. In 2015, there were 48 civilian deaths which has come down to 46 in 2016. In 2008, there were 466 civilian casualties, Singh said while briefing reporters on the achievement of the Home Ministry in the past three years.

The number of kidnapping incidents in the region has also substantially declined. There were 369 such incidents in 2014, which came down to 267 in 2015 and further reduced to 168 last year.