New Delhi, Sep 16: Warning that militant camps across the border are being reactivated, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said there are attempts to induct fresh batches of militants into the country and marked out the prevailing security environment as “uncertain”.
Highlighting the need for the security apparatus to be one step ahead of the militants, he said the recent blasts in Mumbai and Delhi were “grim reminders” of the challenges posed by terrorism to national security.
“There are reports of cross-border camps for militants being reactivated, and of attempts to induct fresh batches of militants into the country,” Singh said after giving away meritorious service medals to officers at the three-day Directors General and Inspectors General conference organized by Intelligence Bureau.
“We need to ensure such attempts are foiled through smooth and coordinated functioning of all security agencies in the state,” Dr Singh said.
Dwelling on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir which has seen a “gradual, yet substantial” improvement in recent months, he noted that it has been a “peaceful” summer but made it clear that there was no room for any complacency on the security front in the state. Voters also turned up in large numbers in the state’s Panchayat elections, he said.
“We have initiated a process of broad-based consultation to find a way forward in Jammu and Kashmir. We need to give the processes of dialogue and democracy a chance to secure a just and honorable settlement that meets the aspirations of all sections of the people,” he said.
“Despite these positive developments, there is no room for complacency on the security front,” he said and added the country’s democratic polity has the capacity to respond to the legitimate aspirations of all communities, cultures and regions. “There is space for all of us to live together in peace and with dignity,” he said.
Dr Singh noted that insurgent groups were “increasingly coming around” to the view that a search for a political identity need not entail recourse to violence and that it can be more fruitfully pursued peacefully and by dialogue.
According to the prime minister, the challenge now in the border state was for elected bodies to meet the high expectations of the people even as peace had been restored there.
“Empowerment of local bodies will be one critical step in energizing the development processes,” he said.
He noted that left-wing extremism has claimed the lives of many innocent people and policemen.
“Our social fabric continues to be targeted by organized terrorism, abetted by misguided zeal and false propaganda among youth and marginalized sections of society. We have to contend with Left-wing militancy, parochial and chauvinistic movements, and tensions cause by socio-economic imbalances and iniquities and rapid urbanization,” the Prime Minister said.

‘BIAS AGAINST MINORITIES SHOULD BE REMOVED’
Dr Singh asked security agencies to take urgent steps in removing a “perceived bias” sometimes against minorities as it would be otherwise inimical to effective policing.
Prime Minister asked the Police Chiefs to consider ways and means to deal with the causes of such perceptions wherever they may.
He said an issue which also figured at the recent meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC) was the “perceived bias” sometimes of the law enforcement and investigation agencies against the minorities.
Singh said the existence of “such a perception is inimical to effective policing, which must necessarily draw upon the confidence and cooperation of all sections of the population it serves”.
The Prime Minister also said the government is trying to address shortage of manpower in state police forces on a war footing.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:00:00 IST