Addressing a Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh called for coordinated efforts on the part of the Centre and the states to deal with the Naxal menace. He said: “We are meeting in the aftermath of the brutal and inhuman attack by left-wing extremists (LWE) on Congress leaders and workers and their security personnel in Chhatisgarh a few days back. Such violence has no place in our democracy.”

The challenge of Naxalism, he mentioned, has received the government’s serious attention for quite some time now. “We have adopted a two-pronged strategy to deal with the challenge: conducting proactive and sustained operations against Maoist extremists; and, addressing development and governance issues in left-wing extremism-affected areas. These include strengthening the security apparatus, improving road connectivity in 34 most left-wing extremist-affected districts, relaxation of norms of various development schemes in the affected areas, and the Integrated Action Plan for 82 selected tribal and backward districts.”

I must also emphasise here that the two-pronged strategy that we have followed so far needs to be strengthened and pursued with rigour. Even as we intensify our efforts to strengthen the security and intelligence apparatus in areas affected by Maoist violence, we should be able to ensure that people residing in left-wing extremistaffected areas are able to live in an environment of peace and security and derive full benefits of our development efforts.”

J&K Situation

“The year 2012 saw a significant improvement in the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Our strategy to prevent cross-border infiltration by militants and our intelligence-based counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir have resulted in a decline in the level of terrorist violence by about one-third in 2012 as compared to 2011. In fact, terrorist violence parameters in 2012 have been the lowest since the upsurge in terrorist activities two decades ago.

Complex Situation in Northeast

The security situation in the Northeast continues to be complex, with insurgency, extortion and agitations being the main disruptive elements in the hands of the insurgents. However, there has been considerable progress in dialogue with several insurgent and ethnic separatist groups in the Northeastern region. A memorandum of understanding has been signed with both factions of Dima Halam Daogah of Dima Hasao in Assam. Three Metei insurgent groups have signed a memorandum of understanding in February 2013. Talks with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland are continuing.

The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) has been set up as an autonomous body in August 2012 to administer the Gorkhaland region and ensure its all-round development. The Centre is committed to providing financial assistance of Rs. 200 crore per annum for three years for projects aimed at developing the socioeconomic infrastructure in the GTA areas.

Crimes against Women and Children

The second issue which requires our collective action is that of crimes against women and children. We have recently enacted several laws providing stringent punishment for such crimes and more sensitive treatment of victims during investigation and trial. These include the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013; the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012.

Capacity building and modernisation of state police forces are absolutely essential for meeting the emerging challenges to internal security which range from terrorism to urban policing. The Centre remains committed to supporting States in this regard. The scheme for modernisation of state police forces has been extended for a further period of five years with a total outlay of about Rs. 12,000 crore. An amount of Rs. 433 crore has been additionally provided for Mega City Policing in the six cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

I also believe that time has now come to view the challenges of terrorism, communal violence and left-wing extremism in a holistic manner. I think each one of us needs to be completely objective in our approach to these issues, acting in national interest rising above narrow political and ideological divides. I would appeal to all political parties and all sections of society to work together to find effective ways and means of meeting these grave challenges.

The Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the internal security situation in the country during the year 2012-13 has remained largely under control, with Jammu and Kashmir particularly showing marked improvement since 2010. In the current year, there have been two major bomb blasts, first in Hyderabad and second in Bengaluru. Though, there was no casualty in the incident at Bengaluru, 18 innocent persons lost their lives in the Hyderabad bomb blast.

At the same time, India continues to face serious challenges to its internal security scenario from Jehadi terrorists. It has been noticed that the terror groups are taking advantage of communication channels which have become more sophisticated over a period of time. From mobile phones, terrorists today have moved on to use of satellite phones, Thuraya sets, use of spoofed IDs and coded transactions over e-mail and chat sessions, besides voice over Internet protocol to communicate across the border.

Jehadi tanzeems in Pakistan with affiliation to LeT, JeM and IM have set up channels for transfer of funds from Pakistan to India via Gulf and Nepal, besides using Western Union Money Transfer and Hawala channel. Moreover, ex-SIMI cadres and similar militant elements based in Gulf have also been observed collecting money for causing destruction in India. However, the cross border terrorist infrastructure is intact. The training camps continue – as do the infiltration attempts. Nepal route continues to be exploited for infiltration of militants.