IS failed in India despite huge Muslim population: Rajnath

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 3

Expressing his sense of satisfaction and also appreciating character of the community, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today claimed despite India being the nation having the second largest Muslim population in the world, terror outfit Islamic State (IS) could not have its footprint in the country.

Addressing mediaprsons on the completion of three years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the Home Minister said: “We are working for a permanent solution (J&K issue). I have said this with utmost responsibility, after much thinking and deliberations. We have some plans and are working in this direction and will find a solid solution in future. It may take some time.”

On if the government considered the problem in J&K “political” or “of security”, Singh said: “We in the government do not see a problem in piecemeal. We consider that there is a problem in the Valley and are trying to address it holistically without making any distinction on any line.”

Highlighting the achievements of the government in providing security to the people of the country, the Home Minister said, as many as 90 IS sympathisers had been arrested across the country so far. “IS and Ansar Ul Ammah have been included in the list of terrorist organisations,” he added.

Singh asserted there was 45 per cent reduction in infiltration from Pakistan in the six months post-surgical strike at the Line of Control in September last year as compared to the corresponding period previous year.

The Home Minister said there had been a 25 per cent reduction in Naxal-related violence in 2014-17 as compared to 2011-14 (UPA tenure). Three years of NDA government had seen a 42 per cent reduction in deaths in Naxal attacks as compared to last three years of the UPA, he added.

On 1984 Anti-Sikh riots, the Home Minister said the government had constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), which began re-investigating the cases related to the violence. “As of now, in four cases the chargesheets have been filed and in another 13 others, investigations are on and hopefully we will soon be able to book the culprits and deliver justice to the victims,” he said.

Noting the achievements made by Union Territories, Singh said: “Chandigarh has the distinction of becoming the first city to implement Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and also the city can boast of being the first to go kerosene-free in April 2016.”