Sharp fall in insurgency in last 4 yrs, says Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday claimed that the country’s internal security situation had shown considerable impr-ovement under the BJP-led NDA Government ever since it was voted to power in 2014.

While speaking at the Vijay Diwas function in the Capital, the home minister said districts affected by Naxal violence had shown a sharp drop from 90 to 12. Mr Singh said even in the insurgency affected North-East there was an 80 per cent decrease.

“The internal security scenario has vastly improved during the last four years,’’ the home minister said.

The BSF, which guards borders with Pakistan and Nepal, the minister added, had been given complete freedom to retaliate effectively to ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

Mr Singh said that ex-servicemen can play a key role in inculcating a sense of national pride among the youths.

While recalling the heroics of Brigadier Mohammad Usman, Maha Vir Chakra awardee and Major Somnath Sharma, India’s first Param Vir Chakra, Mr Singh said some youths today have their idols in cricketers and film stars, but if someone asks them to name Param Vir Chakra recipients, they may not be able to name even one.

Mr Singh said martyrs like Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh were all driven by passionate patriotism. “Society has to stand up with the veterans today and an action plan needs to be framed to preserve individual honour and the nation’s integrity among the citizens,’’ he added.

The home minister said our armed forces proved in 1971 that they have the capability to rewrite history and redraw maps. The Indian Army has since emerged as a professional model before the world, he said. Mr Singh also honoured families of martyrs and released the first quarterly newsletter of Veterans India Association, an NGO, on the occassion.

The Union home minister also announced that he would contribute one month’s salary of his to the organisation’s corpus for martyrs’ welfare.

Vijay Diwas is celebrated to mark India’s historic victory over Pakistan in 1971 war which led to the creation of Bangladesh.