JK News Today
Jammu , April 21:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah who is face of zero-tolerance to terrorism in the country , today lauded security forces for their successful operations in J&K and asserted that anti-terrorism operations offer the best guarantee for the protection of the human rights .
Shah as Home Minister has followed the zero-tolerance to terrorism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in letter and spirit and complimented forces for bringing terrorism under “ decisive control” in Jammu and Kashmir, the place that until the abrogation of Article 370 was having an ambivalent approach toward terrorism – there were anti-terrorism operations, and at the same time the promoters of secessionism and terrorism were reached out to buy peace.
Speaking at the 13th foundation day of National Investigation Agency in Delhi on Thursday, the Home Minister made it plain that the terrorism would have to be fought at all levels, the fight is incomplete against terrorism if its roots are left unaddressed . The overground workers of the terror outfits are as dangerous as the terrorists with the guns, the theme being that while men with guns kill and spill blood, the overground workers were the real threat for they are lifeline of terrorism .
Therefore, he made it plain that inflicting deadly blow at the terrorism helps in protection of human rights. Terrorism is the worst form of human rights violations.
“Terrorism is a curse for any civilised society. And no one has suffered due to it as much as our country. I have had my differences with human rights organisations about the angle they take on the issue. Whenever there is a counter-terror operation, these organisations come up with the issue of human rights. But I believe there is nothing that violates human rights as much as terrorism. So fighting terrorism cannot be contradictory to protection of human rights. To end terrorism from its roots is a necessity for protection of human rights,” Shah said during an event to celebrate the 13th Foundation Day of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Shah said that the Modi government had adopted a “zero-tolerance policy” on terrorism. He lauded the efforts being made to root out terrorism in the Jammu and Kashmir region. “In the field of terrorism, it is one thing to fight terror and terrorists and another to uproot terrorism itself. And if we want to do that we will have to destroy the terror-funding infrastructure. In 2018-19, the cases of terror funding that NIA registered in Jammu and Kashmir have helped in uprooting terrorism. Until now, our agencies had not struck on these means of terror-funding that looked innocuous. After NIA registered the cases, the easy ways of terror funding are not available to terror groups. We may not be able to end it altogether, but we can make it difficult,” he said.
In 2020-21, the NIA registered several cases against over-ground workers (OGWs) of terror groups and has been successful in destroying many sleeper cells.
“This has dealt a severe blow to the logistics and weapons supply of terror groups. And those who used to live in the society with respect despite supporting terrorism, have been exposed by the NIA and produced before the law,” Shah said.
Highlighting that the NIA has now taken over some cases of funding of the Maoist movement, Shah said that he hoped the agency would achieve the same success that it has managed to achieve in Kashmir. According to the MHA, in matters of terror funding, a total of 105 cases have been registered by the NIA, with 94 cases involving 876 accused being chargesheeted. As many as 100 accused have been convicted.
Shah said that the government was committed to bringing reforms in the country’s investigative traditions. “Investigations can no more depend on third degree (torture of suspects). Investigation should depend on technique, data and information. If we want to bring this reform, we will need to create databases and have expertise in digital forensics,” Shah said.
He went on to say that in one of the meetings held recently, the NIA was given the task of creating a database on psychotropic substances, hawala transactions, arms smuggling, fake currency, bomb blasts, terror funding, and terrorism.
“It has begun well. If we share this database with agencies of all states and add the information they have to the database, it will not only help central agencies but also all the states. If data is in silos, it is garbage. The current situation on databases in the country is not satisfactory,” Shah said adding that NIA should have live communication with all specialised counter-terror agencies in states.
He said the government had created a modus operandi bureau in which the NIA has been directed to assist BPR&D in studying the modus operandi behind terror groups recruiting the youth.
