Rajnath hits out at Pakistan, says its state actors behind attacks in India

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday raised an alarm over the global upsurge of Islamic terror and said the Indian government was deeply concern over the rise of terrorism under the banner of Islamic State.

Inaugurating the 49th conference of police chiefs, the home minister asked the security forces to live up to the challenged posed by global terror groups such as the Al Qaeda and the IS, who intend to radicalize the entire sub-continent and set up a Caliphate.

He lauded the West Bengal police for busting the Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh module in the wake of the Burdwan blast on October 2, which claimed the lives of 2 JMB members and exposing the widespread activities of JMB in the area.

He also spoke harshly of Pakistan, slamming the neighbouring country for its continuous efforts to keep terrorism alive in Kashmir. In his criticism, he said, “Pakistan maintains that non-state actor from the country are involved in the trouble in Jammu and Kashmir. But I want to ask Pakistan, is the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence also a non-state actor?”

He said Pakistan-backed separatists would not succeed in weaning away Indian Muslims who are as patriotic as any other community and made equal sacrifices in securing the freedom for the country.

“The South Asian wing of Al Qaeda claimed that they made an attempt, albeit failed, to hijack a Pakistani naval frigate sometime back to attack Indian and US naval ships on the sea. Our forces and intelligence agencies should be prepared to face such challenges,” Rajnath said adding that many internal and external forces were posing threat to the national security and integrity of the country.

The home minister also raised the issue of the Maoist rebellion, saying there was no scope of getting complacent. “We want Maoists to be uprooted from all nook and  corners of the country,” Rajnath said.

He suggested that the police summit should try to hammer out a special strategy to tackle insurgency in the Northeast where the problem stems from social conflict and under development.

He announced that the Bharatiya Janata Party government was fully committed to formulate a special development package for the Northeast to facilitate all encompassing development for all the communities. “Our government is equipping the state police forces with modern technology to improve surveillance. There is a need to tackle the cyber campaign launched by global terror groups and improving coastal line security in the country,” the home minister said.

Lauding the police forces and intelligence agencies in the country for their role in maintaining peace and national security, Rajnath announce a Rs 51 crore grant for setting up a National Police Memorial in New Delhi to pay tribute to all those police personnel who have sacrificed their lives while discharging their duty for the country.