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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday said state actors from Pakistan are playing a role in destabilising India. |
Mentioning the gun battle that erupted on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Arnia sector, he said Pakistan’s claim that “non state actors are behind such incidents is not true”.
He was addressing the 49th All India DGPs and IGPs conference here.
Eleven people - four civilians, three soldiers and four militants - were killed in the fierce gunfight that ended Friday.
Rajnath Singh also raised the Islamic State (IS) issue at the conference and described the terror group as a “major security threat”. “We are concerned about the fact that Indian youngsters are getting drawn to Islamic State.”
The home minister said Al Qaeda is a serious threat and the central government has not taken it lightly.
“There may be many terrorist organisations in the world but the government will not allow them to get a foothold in India,” he said.
He said “Muslims fought for India’s freedom like Hindus did. Al Qaeda won’t succeed in their motives.”
On the October 2 Burdwan blast, he said the West Bengal Police and National Investigation Agency are playing crucial roles in the probe. The blast took place at a house in Burdwan district’s Khagragarh area, killing two Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh militants and injuring another.
Admitting that there was lack of development in the northeast, he said: “There is lack of development in northeast. Let me assure you, we are committed towards a comprehensive development of this region.”
Singh urged all the northeastern states to fill up vacancies in the police forces and assured them of all possible help.
Directors general of police (DGPs), inspectors general of police (IGPs) from all states and union territories, heads of all paramilitary forces, officials from the Intelligence Bureau and all chief ministers of the northeastern states are taking part in the two-day conference.
Nine people, including a woman and two children, were injured in a grenade explosion at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk area yesterday, police said.
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sub-inspector was also hurt in the blast.
“Nine people, including a woman, two children and a CRPF sub-inspector, were injured when militants hurled a powerful hand grenade at a security force picket in Lal Chowk today afternoon,” a senior police officer told IANS.
The injured have been shifted to hospital. Senior police and paramilitary officers have reached the spot.
An army vehicle was damaged yesterday in a blast near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, an official said, adding that there was no casualty.
The improvised explosive device blew up in Krishna Ghati (Poonch) sector, close to the LoC, around 10.30am, defence ministry spokesman colonel Manish Mehta told IANS.
There was minor damage to the heavy vehicle, but there was no casualty, he said.
The area was immediately cordoned off by the security forces, and a search operation was launched.
Traffic in the eastern metropolis virtually came to a standstill yesterday as thousands of supporters of the West Bengal unit of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind held a massive rally protesting against the branding of madrassas as “breeding ground of terrorist activities” following the October 2 Burdwan blast.
Truckloads of associates of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind converged at the Shahid Minar grounds in the central part of the city to raise their voices against the linking of terrorist activities with madrassas.
Arterial stretches connecting the north and southern parts of Kolkata to the central hub were clogged with vehicles as the rallyists marched towards the Minar from key locations in the city like Howrah, Sealdah and Park Circus railway stations.
According to the organisation’s Bengal unit president Siddiqullah Chowdhury, the allegations were creating a divide between Hindus and Muslims.
“Madrassas are not centres for promoting terrorist activities. It is an insult to us... the anti-Islamic comments that are circulating, blaming Muslims for terrorist activities in the state,” he said.
The incident brought the madrasas under scanner with the National Investigation Agency, that is probing the blasts, claiming that the accused and other recruits were trained at madrassas in Simulia and Lalgola in Burdwan and Murshidabad districts, respectively.
“There are terrorist forces which are trying to put a blot on our image and force us to go the wrong path,” said the organisation’s general secretary Mahmood Madani.
