Jul 25 2015 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
Chhattisgarh & Manipur Red Marks on Internal Security Report Card
Chhattisgarh and Manipur mar the otherwise encouraging picture presented by the home ministry's six-month report card on internal security this year. The absconding SIMI module said to be behind a series of small strikes is another worry for the security forces, even as terrorist strikes in J&K and Maoist affected states saw a decline in the first half of 2015, reports Aman Sharma
On the face of it, the data on the first half of the year presents quite a rosy pic ture. All three theatres of terrorism Jammu & Kashmir, 10 Left-wing extremism affected states and the seven states in the Northeast saw a dip in violence.No terrorist attack was reported from the hinterland either. But the home ministry's six-month report card on internal security does have some worrying red marks.Chhattisgarh, Manipur and Nagaland are emerging as areas of concern for the Centre, along with the absconding group of terrorists belonging to the proscribed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).The group, which fled from a Madhya Pradesh jail 18 months ago, is believed to be behind the minor blasts in Pune, Bengaluru, Roorkee, Rewari and Bijnore in 2014 and 2013. The NIA on Friday declared a reward of Rs 10 lakh each on the 4 absconding SIMI men.WHY IS PRIME MINISTER SILENT?
In the six months to June, the number of incidents in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh was equal to 80% of that in the entire 2014 while arrests of Maoists fell by half compared to the year-ago period.
Internal security expert and former chief of BSF and UP Police Prakash Singh said he has been hearing of new security policies being drawn up by the Narendra Modi government but is still to see their implementation on the ground.
“Why has the PM, who has gone into depth into various issues, not spoken on the Naxal issue or elucidated the government's policy to tackle it.Chhattisgarh is a major concern...now there is a BJP government both in the state and at Centre. Still the violence is up. Why is it so?“ Singh asked.
Chhattisgarh stands out among states affected by Left-wing extremism where total number of casualties of civilians and security forces has fallen, largely because the once worstaffected state of Jharkhand is showing major improvement under a new BJP government.
Bihar has also shown an improvement from its inglorious record in 2013, but the home ministry fears that violence may escalate in the run-up to the assembly elections, especially since it believes the state government is going soft on the Maoists owing to their influence over a vote bank.
As per the ministry's internal assessments, Maoists are spreading their base to new territories in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, besides renewing efforts to rejuvenate the CPI (Maoist) in West Bengal, which has witnessed no Maoist violence in the past two years since the Mamata Banerjee government wiped out terrorists from Jangalmahal and Maoist leader Kishenji was killed.“If Mamata Banerjee can do it and Naveen Patnaik can control Maoists in Odisha, why not Chhattisgarh?“ asked Singh.
The data shows that the security situation did deteriorate in 2014 in J&K as well as the Northeast since the Modi government took charge in May.J&K, for the first time in a decade, bucked the trend of decreasing violence levels to register 87% increase in civilian fatalities and 31% increase in incidents compared to that in the previous year. And even as J&K has seen an improvement in the security situation since the PDP-BJP government took charge in March this year, a spectre of increasing recruitment of educated Kashmiri youth in terror outfits has raised its head.
“We are working a delusion in Kashmir by underestimating the ISIS influence. ISIS is gradually nibbling in Kashmir and the government should no longer have an ostrich policy in this regard. We are ignoring this threat,“ said Singh.
A home ministry note, accessed by ET, citing reasons for the increasing recruitment points to “thrust of the tanzeems to recruit local youth from Kashmir, influence of global jihadi organisations like ISIS, lack of employment opportunities, lack of credibility of mainstream political leaders, hanging of Afzal Guru, mass contact programmes of separatists and more use of social media by anti-national elements“.
The Northeast is a picture in contrast. While Manipur and Nagaland have reported major attacks on the security forces including on Army contingents, the worst-affected state of Assam has achieved a huge turnaround from 2014, when a record 168 civilians were killed in strikes, mainly by NDFB (S). Only four civilians have been reported killed in Assam this year and terror incidents have taken a nosedive. But the Northeast theatre has opened up in Manipur and Nagaland with NSCN (K) abrogating the ceasefire and the Centre in a bind now on whether to ban the group or resume the ceasefire with it.
The Modi government has been fortunate in that it has not faced any major terror strike in the hinterland, a recurring phenomenon under its predecessor UPA thanks to the Indian Mujahideen terrorist group whose key leaders were later arrested. But an absconding SIMI group of terrorists led by Mohammed Aijajuddin which escaped from MP's Kandwa jail on October 1, 2013 has become a major worry for the government.
The NIA suspects this group is behind the Chennai CST blast in May 2014 that left one person dead and blast near a temple in Pune last July. NIA has determined that the group was noticed last in Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh in late 2013 when an accidental explosion took place in a house where they were producing explosives but the group managed to escape safely. After the Bijnore incident, the group tried to plant a bomb in a train at Rewari railway station on September 25, 2014 to cause an incendiary effect in the running train.Aijajuddin was later identified by a co-passenger to whom he had handed over a bag containing an improvised explosive device, NIA said.
The NIA also said that this group planted a bomb near a place of meeting on December 6, 2014 at Roorkee where BJP MLA Sangeet Som was to be present with VHP and Bajrang Dal activists. The SIMI group had a motive to take revenge of the Muzaffarnagar communal riots from Som, who has been accused of instigating the riots in 2013, NIA said. The same group is suspected to be involved in the Bengaluru blast on December 28, 2014 in which one person was killed.
A strike by the group on a right-wing leader like Som could well trigger a communal backlash that this government would like to best avoid.
In the six months to June, the number of incidents in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh was equal to 80% of that in the entire 2014 while arrests of Maoists fell by half compared to the year-ago period.
Internal security expert and former chief of BSF and UP Police Prakash Singh said he has been hearing of new security policies being drawn up by the Narendra Modi government but is still to see their implementation on the ground.
“Why has the PM, who has gone into depth into various issues, not spoken on the Naxal issue or elucidated the government's policy to tackle it.Chhattisgarh is a major concern...now there is a BJP government both in the state and at Centre. Still the violence is up. Why is it so?“ Singh asked.
Chhattisgarh stands out among states affected by Left-wing extremism where total number of casualties of civilians and security forces has fallen, largely because the once worstaffected state of Jharkhand is showing major improvement under a new BJP government.
Bihar has also shown an improvement from its inglorious record in 2013, but the home ministry fears that violence may escalate in the run-up to the assembly elections, especially since it believes the state government is going soft on the Maoists owing to their influence over a vote bank.
As per the ministry's internal assessments, Maoists are spreading their base to new territories in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, besides renewing efforts to rejuvenate the CPI (Maoist) in West Bengal, which has witnessed no Maoist violence in the past two years since the Mamata Banerjee government wiped out terrorists from Jangalmahal and Maoist leader Kishenji was killed.“If Mamata Banerjee can do it and Naveen Patnaik can control Maoists in Odisha, why not Chhattisgarh?“ asked Singh.
The data shows that the security situation did deteriorate in 2014 in J&K as well as the Northeast since the Modi government took charge in May.J&K, for the first time in a decade, bucked the trend of decreasing violence levels to register 87% increase in civilian fatalities and 31% increase in incidents compared to that in the previous year. And even as J&K has seen an improvement in the security situation since the PDP-BJP government took charge in March this year, a spectre of increasing recruitment of educated Kashmiri youth in terror outfits has raised its head.
“We are working a delusion in Kashmir by underestimating the ISIS influence. ISIS is gradually nibbling in Kashmir and the government should no longer have an ostrich policy in this regard. We are ignoring this threat,“ said Singh.
A home ministry note, accessed by ET, citing reasons for the increasing recruitment points to “thrust of the tanzeems to recruit local youth from Kashmir, influence of global jihadi organisations like ISIS, lack of employment opportunities, lack of credibility of mainstream political leaders, hanging of Afzal Guru, mass contact programmes of separatists and more use of social media by anti-national elements“.
The Northeast is a picture in contrast. While Manipur and Nagaland have reported major attacks on the security forces including on Army contingents, the worst-affected state of Assam has achieved a huge turnaround from 2014, when a record 168 civilians were killed in strikes, mainly by NDFB (S). Only four civilians have been reported killed in Assam this year and terror incidents have taken a nosedive. But the Northeast theatre has opened up in Manipur and Nagaland with NSCN (K) abrogating the ceasefire and the Centre in a bind now on whether to ban the group or resume the ceasefire with it.
The Modi government has been fortunate in that it has not faced any major terror strike in the hinterland, a recurring phenomenon under its predecessor UPA thanks to the Indian Mujahideen terrorist group whose key leaders were later arrested. But an absconding SIMI group of terrorists led by Mohammed Aijajuddin which escaped from MP's Kandwa jail on October 1, 2013 has become a major worry for the government.
The NIA suspects this group is behind the Chennai CST blast in May 2014 that left one person dead and blast near a temple in Pune last July. NIA has determined that the group was noticed last in Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh in late 2013 when an accidental explosion took place in a house where they were producing explosives but the group managed to escape safely. After the Bijnore incident, the group tried to plant a bomb in a train at Rewari railway station on September 25, 2014 to cause an incendiary effect in the running train.Aijajuddin was later identified by a co-passenger to whom he had handed over a bag containing an improvised explosive device, NIA said.
The NIA also said that this group planted a bomb near a place of meeting on December 6, 2014 at Roorkee where BJP MLA Sangeet Som was to be present with VHP and Bajrang Dal activists. The SIMI group had a motive to take revenge of the Muzaffarnagar communal riots from Som, who has been accused of instigating the riots in 2013, NIA said. The same group is suspected to be involved in the Bengaluru blast on December 28, 2014 in which one person was killed.
A strike by the group on a right-wing leader like Som could well trigger a communal backlash that this government would like to best avoid.
