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The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has asked all the Chief Ministers’ to function on war footing to face the challenges of the internal security. Dr. Singh said this while inaugurating the Chief Ministers’ Conference on Internal Security and Law & Order at Vigyan Bhawan, here today.
Addressing the conference attended by the Union Home Minister and Defence Minister, the Chief Ministers and top officials, Dr. Singh listed the challenges to internal security: “There are today many challenges to internal security; criminal activity, extremism, insurgency, terrorism, communal violence and atrocities on women and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Our security forces are duty bound to deal with crime and law and order problems within the framework of clearly spelt out laws. Insurgency and extremism, on the other hand, have a political dimension that often requires the political management of a security situation. We have time and again attempted this in the North-East and in Naxalite affected areas. There can be no political compromise with terror”.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the need for police reforms in this connection – “I urge your conference to also deliberate upon the need for police reforms. A well-trained, sensitive, citizen-friendly but firm police force is a necessary element of good governance. The government has at its disposal the wisdom of many committees of enquiry and study on police reforms. I urge Chief Ministers to give the recommendations of existing committees utmost importance and initiate the required reform, in training, in service conditions, in career progression, in technical support and in depoliticising the functioning of the police”.
In his welcome address, the Home Minister, Shri Shivraj Patil stressed that the security environment has witnessed positive developments in the recent past - “the levels of terrorist violence and infiltration in J&K have been significantly lower than before. Infiltration has come down by 61% mainly due to fencing of the border and heightened surveillance and strong counter action by Security forces. A record flow of tourists to the Valley, participation of nearly four lakhs pilgrims in Amarnath Yatra in 2004 and a huge voter turnout in recent election at different levels have been possible as a result of improved security situation in the State. This also reflects people’s yearning for peace and normalcy in the State. Despite terrorist attacks and threats, the journey of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus has begun. This also shows that people in the State are against militancy and militants are getting increasingly isolated. The overall terrorist violence in the North-East declined by about 19% in 2004. Civilians killed were lower by 21%. Manipur has also shown signs of improvement. The Government’s efforts to resolve conflicts through peace dialogue have produced the desired response with a number of underground groups of the North-East signing suspension of operations agreements. There are indications from the NDFB as well for peace talks”.
The Home Minister also highlighted the role of the police station in maintaining law & order and the need for police reforms: “The Hon’ble Prime Minister has gone into this matter and shown deep concern for police reforms. As directed by him, a Review Committee has looked at the recommendations made by various Commissions and Committees on police reforms and identified some recommendations for urgent implementation by the Centre and State Governments”.
In his address, the Defence Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee spoke of the complementary nature of work done by the armed forces and the police force, and the need of greater cooperation between the two for tackling difficult internal security situations.
OK/RCP/AD/SK
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