Our Correspondent
GUWAHATI, NOVEMBER 29
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday expressed deep concern over the law and order situation in the Northeast.
Addressing the 49th conference of Directors General of Police and Inspectors General of Police here, he said the situation in the region was a matter of concern for the government.
“There are some groups in the Northeast which are in talks with Central government representatives. They have also announced ceasefire. There are some which have stopped their operations. But despite that some groups are still indulging in violence. This is a matter of concern for us. The Assam Rifles and the paramilitary forces are doing their best to contain violence but we have to do more,” he said.
Singh believed that the reason for the ethnic and socio-economic conflicts in the region was the lack of economic and infrastructural development. Infrastructure development, he said, has not been like what it should have been but the government is committed to comprehensive development of the region.
On acts of terror, the Home Minister said the government would not allow any terrorist organization in the world to get foothold in India.
While pledging modernization of the police force, he said the men in uniform are filled him with a sense of pride and responsibility and urged the states to fill up the vacancies in police forces while assuring them of all possible help.
Singh also announced that the government would allocate Rs 50 crore for building the National Police Memorial in Delhi.
Talking about the activities of external forces, he said recently, a terrorist network of the Jamat-ul-
Mujahideen Bangladesh was exposed in West Bengal. He lauded the West Bengal police and the National Investigation Agency for playing an important role in exposing the network.
At the same time, he expressed deep concern over Indian youth getting attracted to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“Certain misguided youth in the country are getting attracted to organizations like the ISIS, but the government is committed to check it,” he said.
During his speech, Singh also took potshots at Pakistan for its constant attempts to destabilize India.
“Whenever we raise the issue of terrorism with Pakistan, they will blame the non-state actors for it. I want to ask Pakistan if the ISI is a non-state actor,” he said.
He said the acts of terrorism had decreased in Jammu & Kashmir but the efforts of terrorist organisations to recruit local youth were on. “Relief and rehabilitation there have to be expedited or else the local youth might be misguided by the terrorists,” Singh cautioned.
