New Delhi: There is likelihood of terror outfits seeking to disrupt forthcoming assembly and Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said yesterday, while urging security forces to remain “scrupulously bipartisan” in dealing with terror cases to maintain people’s faith in a secular polity.
Addressing the annual conference of Directors General of Police here, the prime minister also advocated the need for an institutional mechanism to ensure safety of women. Expressing deep concern over the substantial increase in incidents of communal violence in some states, he said state governments need to act with utmost firmness. He also called for solutions to prevent misuse of social media.
“Resurgence of terrorist groups, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiba, and increased infiltration attempts call for heightened vigil and coordination by our security forces. There is also likelihood of attempts to disrupt the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections,” he said.
The prime minister stressed that security forces need to be careful and measured in their response to militant attacks and law and order disturbances.
Referring to terror attacks in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bodh Gaya and Patna, he said Indian hinterland remains an active area of operation for terror outfits while urging the skills of intelligence platforms should be constantly improved.
“However, while dealing with terror cases, care needs to be taken that security forces remain scrupulously bipartisan so that our people do not lose faith in the professionalism of investigative agencies and the secular nature of our polity,” he added.
The prime minister said some states have witnessed a substantial increase in the number of communal incidents and added that major communal clash in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh last September took a large toll of lives.
“This is most worrisome. We simply cannot allow such a state of affairs to continue. Our law and order agencies must ensure that trivial or local issues are not exploited by vested interests to incite communal passions.
“And once disturbances occur, they must be tackled with the utmost firmness and speed, without prejudice, fear or favour,” he said, adding the states have the responsibility to ensure firm handling of communal situations. “I expect all state DGPs to discharge this responsibility fully,” he said.
Referring to the misuse of social media to fan violence during Muzaffarnagar riots, the prime minister said there was a need to find creative solutions which do not unreasonably curb the freedom of expression.
Pointing to “declining trend” of Maoist violence over the last few years, he stressed that operations against the rebels “should not in any way affect or disturb the livelihood patterns of local people”.
Intelligence Bureau chief Asif Ibrahim suggested that foreign content providers on the internet be brought within the ambit of Indian laws. IANS
