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Home ministry finds overall law and order situation 'satisfactory'

The Union government has launched a two-pronged strategy to improve the law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East, according to the home ministry's annual report for 1997-98.

The overall law and order situation in the country remained, by and large, satisfactory during the year except for the extremist and secessionist activities in J&K and the North-East, and the left wing violence in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.

The double-pronged strategy, the report said, is to strictly enforce the law on one hand and take special initiatives for the development of affected areas on the other.

Special forces are being raised in the affected areas. They would be trained in jungle warfare, commando operations and handling of explosives.

The report said the situation in Kashmir has improved further -- there is a visible relaxation of tension, and normalcy has more or less returned to Srinagar city and other parts of the valley.

However, infiltration, especially that of foreign mercenaries, and cross-border firings along the Line of Control have not slackened. In view of terrorist activities, all the six districts of the valley and areas within 20 kms of the LoC in Poonch and Rajouri districts continued to be declared as disturbed areas.

A number of initiatives were taken for accelerating the pace of development in J&K. The state's annual plan for 1997-98 was increased by more than Rs 3 billion. The ninth five year plan allocation was at Rs 100 billion as against the eighth plan outlay of Rs 40 billion.

Besides restoring damaged infrastructure, the government has placed high priority on the construction of new roads, bridges and railway lines, and the generation of power for meeting the requirements of the state.

Special attention is also being paid to the development of the tourism industry.

In the North-East, the report indicated several measures have been taken to tackle the Bodo problem and insurgency.

Efforts are also on to boost the economic development of the region.

Significant successes were achieved in checking insurgency in Assam during the year. International warrants were issued against militant leaders like Arabinda Rajkhowa, Paresh Baruah, Anup Chetia, Sashadhar Chaudhary and Ranjan Daimary.

Two hundred and ninety insurgents were killed and 471 arrested between April 1997 and December 1997, the report said.

The Bodo Liberation Tigers, an insurgent outfit active in Assam, was banned. The United Liberation Front of Asom's attempt to enter the Unrepresented Nations and People's Organisation was also successfully blocked.

The government released Rs 1.31 billion for excess security-related expenditure to the Assam government for the period 1990-95.

The report said the Issac Muivah group of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland responded to the prime minister's offer for talks. After preliminary discussions, it was mutually agreed to cease fire in Nagaland for three months with effect from August 1, 1997, and embark upon political discussions.

The government also unconditionally extended cease-fire to all militant groups in Nagaland.

The project for fencing and flood lighting stretches of Indo-Pak border which are vulnerable to infiltration continued during the period under report. By January 1997, 1,171 kilometres had been fenced and 1,024 kms flood lit, thereby covering the entire stretch of the Punjab border and Bikaner, Sriganganagar, Jaisalmer and Barmer sectors of Rajasthan.

Resumption of the work along Jammu border, which had been taken up in January 1995 but suspended owing to persistent firing from the Pakistan side, is being actively considered by the government.

The construction of a road and fence along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and West Bengal is also in progress, the report said.

UNI

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