Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Nitish Kumar and Naveen Patnaik, holding Home Department portfolios in their respective States, on Thursday skipped the Annual Home Ministers’ conference (Chintan Shivir), chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who pointed to the “big achievement” of a 74 per cent decline in terror attacks and 90 per cent decrease in terror-related killings since 2014. He, however, pointed out “35,000 police and CAPF personnel laid down their lives to keep the unity and integrity of the country intact”.
Shah said the country has made big strides in tackling Left Wing Extremism (LWE), recording a decrease of 77 per cent in naxal violence and 87 per cent in lives claimed by it after 2014.
“Once upon a time, the red corridor between Pashupati Nath to Tirupati was notorious. States and the Centre have successfully fought this fight and achieved success... In 2014, 113 districts were affected by LWE, now it has come down to 46. It’s a big success,” he said.
While Shah announced that a decision has been taken to set up NIA branches in every State by 2024, he also cited how after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir terrorist activities decreased by 34 per cent, death of security forces by 64 per cent and decrease in civilian deaths by 90 per cent.
“We have made important changes in the NIA and UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) to give more powers to the agency. The NIA has been given extra-territorial jurisdiction. The agency has also got powers to seize properties of a terrorist. We have decided that every State will have a NIA unit to develop a strong anti-terror network,” he said in his introductory remarks at the two-day Shivir.
Prime Minister Modi will address the “Chintan Shivir” through video conferencing on October 28. Only two non-BJP Chief Ministers, Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann and Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, attended the conference. The Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh’s Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu attended the meeting but another Opposition-ruled State Telangana’s Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali did not attend it.
The Government has also amended the FCRA that was being misused by some NGOs to conduct anti-national activities, religious conversion, political opposition of development projects and creating obstacles in development works, the Home Minister said.
“Our internal security is considered strong,” Shah said adding it is the collective responsibility of States and the Centre to effectively tackle trans-border crimes.
“We have entered long-term agreements with insurgent groups like NLFT, BODO, Karbi Anglong which have given a platform for the surrender of 9,000 insurgents to ensure long-term peace in Northeast,” he said.
He said Jammu and Kashmir had received a total investment of Rs 19,000 crore till 2019 since Independence while in last three years an investment of Rs 57,000 crore has been made. This shows that the Union Territory has moved ahead on the path of success, he said.
He said that the “Chintan Shivir” has been organised with the objective to prepare an action plan for the implementation of “Vision 2047” and “Panch Pran” announced by Prime Minister Modi during his Independence Day speech.
The non-BJP States were mostly either represented by a Cabinet Minister or a Minister of State holding charge of the Home Department or senior officials. BJP Chief Ministers Basavaraj Bommai (Karnataka) and Bhupendra Patel (Gujarat) too did not attend the meeting.
Apart from Mann and Vijayan, the Chief Ministers who are attending the two-day conference which began on Thursday are Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), N Biren Singh (Manipur), Pramod Sawant (Goa), Manik Saha (Tripura), Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand) and Prem Singh Tamang (Sikkim). Apart from Tamang, all the Chief Ministers are from the BJP. Tamang is from Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, a constituent of the NDA.
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit, who is the administrator of Chandigarh, and Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, currently under the Central rule, attended the meeting. Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Phadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister of Nagaland Y Patton also attended the meeting. Both are from the BJP.