Sounding a note of caution against certain “worrisome developments” having an impact on India’s internal security, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said infiltration from across the Line of Control and also via Nepal, Bangladesh and the sea was going up.
“Encounters with armed militants have become more frequent in recent weeks and months. Secessionist and militant groups within the State are again attempting to make common cause with outside elements and have embarked on a series of protest movements.”
Dr. Singh was addressing the annual conference of Directors-General and Inspectors-General of Police on the second day of the three-day event here.
“We also need to understand better why many more local youth are being inveigled into participating in terrorist activities and how they are being recruited, indoctrinated and trained. The factors that cause social disharmony and alienation should be clearly known so that we can work to eliminate them.”
Reiterating that left-wing extremism was perhaps the “gravest internal security threat we face,” Dr. Singh expressed concern over the fact that despite “our efforts, the level of violence in the affected States continues to rise.”
Observing that left-wing extremism required a nuanced strategy as it could not be treated simply as a law and order problem, Dr. Singh said the movement managed to retain the support of a section of the tribals and the poorest of the poor in many areas. “It has influence among sizeable sections of civil society, the intelligentsia and the youth. It still retains a certain élan. All this adds to the complexity of the problem.”
