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Left wing extremism biggest threat : PM

	December 24, 2007

During a week that witnessed one of the biggest jail breaks by Naxalites in the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Left wing extremism poses the biggest security challenge to the nation. Addressing a meeting of Chief Ministers called to discuss internal security in New Delhi on Dec. 20,

he asked the states to establish specialised and dedicated forces to eliminate this virus. Dr. Manmohan Singh said Left wing extremism continues to affect

many parts of our country. He said not a day passes without an incident of Left wing extremism taking place somewhere or the other.



Dr. Manmohan Singh said, “the reach of terrorists is such that no one can say that they are fully immune from such attacks.” He told the Chief Ministers that internal security challenges need their personal attention and leadership. He said, “We cannot rest in peace until we have dealt with this single biggest

security challenge to the Indian state.”



The Prime Minister assured all possible assistance from the Union Home Ministry for the setting up of specialised dedicated forces by the states

to fight extremism. He said the states also need to consider joint operations in appropriate cases.



Referring to the jail break earlier in the week in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, where nearly 300 prisoners including Maoists escaped, the Prime

Minister lamented the shortage of policemen to counter the fast emerging challenges including hinterland terrorism. He said that he was informed

that there were only three police personnel in the Dantewada jail.



Speaking of the roots of extremism, Dr. Manmohan Singh linked economic inequality to internal security and said that uneven development

was giving rise to many security problems. He said, “development and internal security are two sides of the same coin. Each is critically dependent on the

other.”



Dr. Manmohan Singh also called for action to stem the flow of funds to Naxal groups and said that essential economic infrastructure needs to be

protected.





Strengthen intelligence : Chief Ministers



A majority of the Chief Ministers who participated in the conference on internal security on Thursday called for the strengthening of intelligence

machinery, better Centre-State coordination, more funds for modernisation of police forces and addressing economic and developmental issues that

have a bearing on internal security.



In his closing remarks, Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh said conferences of this nature send

a strong message that the “political leadership of the

country can rise above our political and party

affiliations when it comes to facing national challenges,

particularly those concerning internal security.”



Noting that opinions expressed by the Chief

Ministers were varied and reflected the local realities,

he expressed satisfaction that there was a general

agreement on the approach to tackling the problem of

naxalism and the conference discussed a wide range

of alternative strategies.



Dr. Singh asked the Home Minister to establish

a dedicated trained force at the Centre either as part

of an existing force or a separate one to assist States to

tackle naxalite groups.



The Chief Ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP)-ruled States argued in favour of tough anti-terror

laws like the POTA and checking illegal migration

from across the borders.



Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi called for a coherent approach and policy to deal with terrorism

and said the time had come for a white paper on

terrorism.



“While anti-terror mechanisms are being

strengthened and terror laws are being made stringent

all over the world, our country has even abolished the

existing law of POTA,” he said.



Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and

her Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh

Chouhan called for revival of POTA.