Int border, LoC continue to be vulnerable: Chidambaram

Holding that the international border and the LoC in the west continue to remain vulnerable, Home Minister P Chidambaram today said new routes for infiltration apppeared to have opened via Nepal and Bangladesh.

Addressing a meeting of chief ministers on internal security, he said thanks to radicalisation, many Indian groups have acquired the capacity to carry out terror attacks and there was no let-up in the attempts to strike terror wherever there was an opportunity.

He also said the state governments are at the front-line to defend internal security.
Chidambaram said an overview would lead to the conclusion that violence had declined in 2011 but cautioned that behind these figures lay a more worrying narrative - which is the spread and the reach of some adversaries and their success in augmenting their weaponry and their military capabilities.

"The target is the Indian state and naturally, every constituent of the Indian state, and, in his offensive the adversary does not recognise state borders. His organisation does not match states' territorial jurisdictions.

"And he makes no distinction between the central government and the state governments," he said.

Referring to the two major terror attacks in 2011 -- the serial blasts in Mumbai in July and the blast near the Delhi High Court in September, the Home Minister said the "chilling facts" were that the principal suspects in the two cases were "Indian nationals".
They operated across states and many of them had no previous criminal record, the Home Minister said.

"I have to conclude, regretfully, that thanks to radicalisation, there are many Indian groups which have acquired the capacity to carry out terror attacks," he said.
Chidmabaram said, "The international border and the Line of Control in the west continue to remain vulnerable. Every week has witnessed attempts to infiltrate into India and new routes appear to have been opened via Nepal and Bangladesh."However, during his 20-minute speech, the Home Minister did not touch upon on the proposed National Counter Terror Centre, opposed by several non-Congress chief ministers, apparently due to the scheduled May 5 meeting which will deliberate on the controversial issue threadbare.

Describing the left-wing extremism (LWE) as the "most formidable threat" to the internal security, Chidambaram said the decline in the overall number of casualties among civilians and security forces in LWE-affected districts may give a false sense of assurance, but that is not the true picture.

"The challenge of LWE has been compounded by the capacity of the CPI(Maoist) to promote a number of front organisations and win the support of civil society groups. They use every instrument that is available in a democracy -- from freedom of speech to bandhs to judicial remedies," he said.

Chidambaram said several urban areas have emerged as new centres of pro-Maoist activities and there was a necessity to find ways and means to blunt the propaganda offensive launched by the CPI(Maoist).

"Two states are very badly affected, four states are affected and three states are within the arc of influence of the CPI(Maoist). Assam has emerged as the new theatre of Maoist activity. There are also inputs about links of CPI(Maoist) with insurgent groups in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh," he said.

Referring to the communal situation in the country, the Home Minister said though the situation was peaceful and the graph of incidents is declining, yet 91 lives were lost in 2011 and 1908 persons were injured in local communal conflicts.

"The so-called cause was usually trivial, but there were also cases of deliberate provocation. I urge state governments to remain vigilant, impartial and firm," he said.