The country’s hinterland remains an active area of operation for terrorists and security forces will have to constantly remain a step ahead to counter them. Sounding this warning, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked for “scrupulously bipartisan” approach during probe to ensure people’s faith in professionalism of investigative agencies and secular nature of polity.
Singh said that disclosures made by arrested members of terrorist outfits in connection with four major terror incidents, including those at Hyderabad, Bodh Gaya, Bangalore and Patna, confirm apprehensions that hinterland is an active area of operation for these outfits.
“Therefore, we need to ensure that our security apparatus and intelligence sharing platforms such as the Multi-Agency Centre constantly hone their skills to stay ahead of the nefarious designs of these terrorist outfits,” Singh said in his address at the conference of Directors General and Inspectors General of Police.
However, while dealing with terror cases, “Care needs to be taken that security forces remain scrupulously bipartisan so that our people do not lose faith in the professionalism of investigative agencies and the secular nature of our polity,” he said. Not ruling out attempts by terrorists to disrupt the forthcoming lok Sabha and Assembly elections, Singh said the security forces also need to be careful and measured in their response to militant attacks as well as law and order disturbances.
Referring to the recent “volatile” situation at the border with Pakistan in Jammu & Kashmir, which saw increased ceasefire violations and attempts to infiltrate, the Prime Minister said resurgence of terrorist groups, particularly lashkar-e-Tayyeba and increased infiltration attempts, call for heightened vigil and coordination by security forces.
As regards communal riots, Singh said in the current year some States witnessed a substantial increase in the number of communal incidents. Terming the communal clash in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining districts of Western Uttar Pradesh in September as the “most worrisome”, he said, “It sounds like a cliché, but it is necessary to say that we simply cannot afford such state of affairs to continue.
He urged the law and order agencies to ensure that trivial or local issues are not exploited by vested interests to flame communal passions. “And once disturbances occur, they must be tackled with utmost firmness and speed, without prejudice, fear or favour,” Singh added.
The Prime Minister also drew the attention of misuse of the social media and SMSes to fan violence during the recent disturbances at Muzaffarnagar, and also last year, when wrong information spread through these means contributed to a mass exodus of people belonging to the North-East from Southern States like Karnataka.
“It is widely accepted that social media facilitates exchange of knowledge, information and ideas can be used for constructive purposes. Therefore, in preventing its misuse, we need to find creative solutions which do not unreasonably curb the freedom of expression and the ease of communication that social media provides,” he said.