Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that Jammu and Kashmir was gradually heading towards peace and stability, and that internal security challenges in the country have transformed from “geographic” to “thematic”.
“Earlier problems were geographical like unrest in the northeast, terrorism in J&K and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in affected areas, but now they are thematic like cyber security and data security. The problems have also become multidimensional as narco terror and fourth generation war have chipped in,” Mr. Shah said.
“There was a time when children from Jammu and Kashmir used to go to study in other parts of the country due to insurgency, but today 32,000 children from other parts of the country are studying in J&K,” the Minister said.
He said that police in all States have cooperated to nab “Popular Front of India (PFI) culprits” adding that “it showed the power of India’s cooperative federalism and maturity as a democracy.” He asked the police officers to focus on urban policing.
“We have attained massive success in taming left wing terror. In 2010 there were 96 terror-affected districts, now there are only 46 . Similarly, 72% of the security vacuum has been plugged and I have complete faith that by 2024 we will plug 100% vacuum and take absolute control of the situation. In left wing affected regions, all kinds of violence have seen a 40% to 60% decline,” Mr. Shah added.
