Parliamentary panel on home affairs has said that after the 1971-Pakistan war, the country’s borders had never been as vulnerable as it is now. The persistent ceasefire violations along the Pakistan border are affecting the border population and today the “country seems to have internal refugees and internal migrants.”
The panel headed by Congress leader P. Chidambaram said the government should revive the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), a project conceived by the UPA government in 2012 and vehemently opposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was the Gujarat Chief Minister then.
“After the 1971 war, the present is the most vulnerable period for the borders of the country,” the report said.
“There have been a large number of ceasefire violations and several jawans and civilians have been killed. According to some reports, more than a hundred ceasefire violations took place within a span of two months in 2016 and the year 2016 can be considered one of the most vulnerable periods. The government should find a way to prevent the frequent and persistent violations of ceasefire, including use of diplomatic channels. Ultimately, the answer lies in diplomacy. During ceasefire violations, the worst sufferers are the people living in the border villages. The question is where will they go and where will they earn their living? The country today appears to have internal refugees and internal migrants,” the report said.
The report said there was a significant spurt in ceasefire violations in 2016.
The Ministry had earlier informed the Lok Sabha that after the September 29 surgical strikes last year, more than 27,000 people in J&K were temporarily shifted to safer places and locations. Approximately 6,000 of them stayed in relief camps. Most have since returned. Currently, only about 220 families comprising around 700 persons are in three relief camps.
Fake notes
The panel said that seizure of fake ₹2,000 and ₹500 notes never declined post demonetisation. “The committee is concerned to note such incidents belie the tall claims made that fake currency will be eliminated after demonetisation.”
The panel came down heavily on the Home Ministry for “not taking measures to replace the existing fake currency detection machines available with the Border Guarding Forces... or make it compatible for detecting new denomination notes.”
“The Committee feels that the fake currency manufacturers and smugglers will exploit this situation and may be able to flood the country with new fake currency before the Ministry is able to come up with a plan to foil these attempts. The Committee, in view of the rising number of seizures of fake currency along the India-Bangladesh Border, also recommends that the Ministry should take up this issue with the Bangladesh government during the Home Secretary-level talks and urge them to crack down on the printers and smugglers of fake currencies in Bangladesh.”
After November 8, 2016, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scrapping of old ₹1,000 and ₹500 notes, as many as 40,905 fake notes of ₹2,000 and ₹500 denominations have been seized by the Border Security Force (BSF), the NIA and the police in the 17 border States. The face value of these notes is ₹6.2 crore.
