Rajnath Singh: Will hit back if attacked

New Delhi: Security forces would retaliate in case they were targeted by terror outfits in Kashmir, clarified home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday who reiterated that though the forces had adopted a non-combative approach during Ramazan, “their hands are not tied”. The home minister was speaking in his Lok Sabha constituency of Lucknow on completion of four years of the Modi government.

He said the security forces had given a befitting reply to any attack and that the government had not tied their hands in the name of Ramazan. “If militants attack us, the security forces have hit back hard and we did this in the last few days, specially when we gunned down five terrorists,” Mr Singh added.

On initiating talks with separatists, the home minister clarified the Centre’s position on the vexed issue, saying that the government was willing for talks with anyone, but they had to conducted in a conducive atmosphere. Even senior functionaries have stated that while the Modi government was keen on dialogue with all the stakeholders, the talks have to be held within “four walls of the Constitution and in absence of any violence”.

The government, the home minister said, had taken several initiatives in securing the borders with installation of radars, sensors, floodlights and even a command room. “In Northeast, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was withdrawn fully from Meghalaya and Tripura and some places of Arunachal Pradesh,” Mr Singh added.

On the issue of Naxal violence, the home minister claimed the NDA government had been quite successful in dealing with the situation as during the last four years of the UPA, a total of 20,428 Naxal-related incidents were reported while they dipped to 1,081 in the first four years of the NDA.