India on verge of eliminating Naxalism: Amit Shah

Amit Shah. Pic/PTI

India is "on the verge of" eliminating Naxalism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday and asserted that the Narendra Modi government is "determined" to win this battle, reported news agency PTI.

Amit Shah was addressing troopers of the Border Security Force (BSF) on the paramilitary force's 59th Raising Day celebrations here. The about 2.65-lakh personnel strong force was raised on this day in 1965.

In the last 10 years, Amit Shah said, incidents of Naxal violence have gone down by 52 per cent, deaths in these incidents declined by 70 per cent and the number of affected districts have come down from 96 to 45. The number of "LWE-hit police stations have come down from 495 to 176", he said, reported PTI.

"The last strike against LWE (left-wing extremism) by forces such as the BSF, the CRPF and the ITBP is in the process. We are determined to end Naxalism in the country," the home minister said, reported PTI.

Shah said his government was "on the verge of" eliminating the violent left-wing extremism of armed Maoist cadre in various states, including Jharkhand, reported PTI.

He also counted the recent operations undertaken by security forces in the hills and forests of 'Burapahar' and 'Chakarbandha' in the state that freed vast tracts of areas from the clutches of Maoists, reported PTI.

"I am sure we will win this battle," Shah said and added that as many as 199 new security forces' camps have been established in LWE-affected areas since 2019, reported PTI.

In the last 10 years of the Modi government, "we have been able to win the battle in hotspots of Jammu and Kashmir, LWE (areas) and (against) insurgency in the Northeast, and security forces have been able to establish their domination in Jammu and Kashmir", he said, reported PTI.

Earlier today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said India's two major borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh will be completely secured in the next two years, with work underway to completely plug gaps in about 60 km stretch along these two fronts, reported PTI.

The minister said the Narendra Modi government has fenced and plugged gaps in about 560 km of the India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders in the last nine years since it came to power at the Centre, reported PTI.

These gaps were being used for infiltration and smuggling, he said, reported PTI.

All the gaps in these two borders on India's western and eastern flank respectively are being plugged and work in only about 60 km is left. In the next two years we will entirely secure these two borders, Shah said, reported PTI.

The two borders-- 2,290 km of India-Pakistan International Border and 4,096 km of India-Bangladesh border-- are marked by long riverine, mountainous and marshy areas where it is very difficult to erect fences and hence the BSF and other agencies use technical gadgets to check infiltration, reported PTI.

"I firmly believe that a country cannot develop and prosper if its borders are not secure...the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led the country to the moon with the Chandrayaan mission, G20 Summit and brought the economy from the 11th to the fifth spot, and this was all possible due to our forces deployed for securing the borders like the BSF," he said, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)