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210 out of India's 535 districts face security risks: home secretary

The Union Home Ministry has painted a grim picture of the country's internal security, stating that 210 out of 535 districts, are affected by insurgency, ethnic conflict, extremism, caste clashes and other crises.

This observation was made by Home Secretary BP Singh before the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs. He said that out of 69 districts of the north eastern region, as many as 48 are affected by insurgency and ethnic violence and ten districts of Jammu and Kashmir by militancy.

The situation in Assam is worse because 23 of its districts are badly affected by violence.

In the north-east, while the situation in Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya was comparatively peaceful and Nagaland was somewhat uneasy.

Similarly, the law and order situation in Tripura was a matter of deep concern. Speaking with regard to Manipur, the home secretary mentioned the unrest in the extremism and insurgency caused by the Nagas, Kuki and Meitei outfits.

Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, he said Pakistan had now shifted its focus towards Nepal, a porous border. Inter Services Intelligence agents in Kathmandu and Dhaka have been imparting training to youths, particularly on the Indo-Nepal border. The interceptions have revealed that not only funds, but unwanted elements also come in through that route.

The security forces arrested 4,397 Pakistan-trained militants and intercepted 711 gangs from the border during 1990-98. They killed 1,501 terrorists and arrested 1,031. Also, 2,820 militants of various outfits surrendered to the authorities.

The home secretary stated that the situation in Uttar Pradesh was marked by communal violence while Bihar was characterised by an increasing growth in crime and of organised criminal groups.

In Tamil Nadu, three factors have adversely affected the internal security. These are influence of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, growth of Muslim fundamentalist organisations and caste clashes.

He also reported that the movement of anti-social elements in Delhi had intensified.

The standing committee suggested that the government take a fresh look at the deployment of the Border Security Force to tackle the problem of insurgency, operation of private senas and ethnic clashes. The existing deployment has left large gaps as a result of which the movement of extremists across the border was rampant.

''Unless additional BSF posts are created, the border will remain porous, particularly in the north eastern region making it difficult to contain the activities of extremists."

The standing committee suggested that the Centre should raise more forces on an urgent basis to adequately meet the requirements of the states. It felt there was a necessity to substantially enhance the level of allocation under the ongoing scheme of modernisation of the police forces.

The standing committee also stated that there was a greater need for coordination among various security and intelligence agencies at the Central government level. It was also necessary that all states suffering from terrorism, insurgency and left wing extremism should have a joint command under the control of the civil administration. There was a need to construct roads and upgrade communication facilities in such areas, it said.

UNI

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