New Delhi, March 21: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday outlined the steps taken by the BJP-led government to strengthen internal security and said Naxalism will be eliminated from the country by March 31, 2026.

Replying to the debate on the working of his ministry in Rajya Sabha, Amit Shah talked of the steps taken by the government to tackle terrorism in J-K, Naxal challenge, drug abuse and problems in the Northeast.

He said the country would get free of the "Naxal problem" during the term of the BJP-led government.

"I say it in this House with responsibility that Naxalism in this country will be eliminated by March 31, 2026," he said.

Amit Shah talked of the steps taken by the government to provide accurate intelligence to security forces dealing with Naxalites and said he has pity on those who think Naxalism is only a political problem.

"When Narendra Modi Government was elected to power in 2014, we received several legacy issues from prior to 2014. The security and development of this country were always challenged due to three main issues. These three issues caused obstruction to the peace of the country, raised questions on the security of the country and obstructed the development pace of the country for almost four decades; they also made the country's entire system even laughable many a time," he said.

"These three issues were terrorism in J-K, Leftist insurgency which dreamt of Tirupati to Pashupatinath and the Northeast insurgency. If you club all these three issues together, around 92,000 citizens of this country were killed in four decades. For the elimination of these three issues, never was a well-planned effort made. PM Narendra Modi made those efforts after coming to power," he added.

Amit Shah said 21 members presented their views during the working of his ministry.

"In a way, efforts were made to cover the dimensions of several works of MHA. First of all, I express my gratitude to thousands of State Police and central paramilitary force jawans who made the supreme sacrifice to strengthen the country's internal security as well as borders," he said.

Amit Shah said several crime incidents have multi-state dimensions like narcotics and cybercrime.

"In a way, the Home Ministry works under very difficult situation. The Constitution has given the responsibility of Law and Order to states. Border security and internal security come under MHA. This is a correct decision. And there is no need to make any changes to this. But when Law and Order is taken care of by states, after 76 years, there is now a situation when several kinds of crime do not remain limited to state borders, they are both inter-state as well as multi-state -- like narcotics, cybercrime, organised crime gangs, hawala," he said.

"All these crimes do not take place just within a state. Several crimes are done in the country even from outside the country. So, keeping all this in view it becomes essential to make changes in MHA. I say this with pride that in 10 years, PM Narendra Modi made long overdue changes to the MHA at once to ensure national security," he added.

Amit Shah talked about the changes in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.

"After the removal of Article 370, the involvement of Indian youth with terrorists has almost disappeared. Ten years ago, terrorist glorification was common, and funeral processions would take place. But now, when terrorists are killed, they are buried on the spot. Relatives of terrorists who once enjoyed government perks have been ruthlessly removed from government posts to send a strong message," he said.

"I want to thank our Constitution makers for making Article 370 temporary and providing a solution for its removal within the same article. However, vote bank politics kept it safeguarded. But on August 5, 2019, PM Modi took the historic step of removing it, marking the beginning of a new era of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India," he said. (ANI)

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