M A I N   N E W S

Vulnerable sea poses terror threat, says PM
Tribune News Service

PM Manmohan Singh presents the Police Medal to Olympics bronze winner Yogeshwar Dutt in New Delhi. Tribune photo

New Delhi, September 8
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday flagged concerns on the continued vulnerability of the sea route by terrorists to enter the country, the ability of Naxals to grow in number, the erosion of inter-community relations, increased infiltration attempts in Jammu and Kashmir and the use of social media by miscreants to drive a schism between communities.

Speaking at the last day of the directors general and inspectors general of police conference here, the Prime Minister asked the police top brass to devise new strategies.

Talking about the threats to the nation, the PM said, “There are indications about terrorist groups maintaining their ability to use the sea route (to enter the country).” He expressed confidence that the maritime domain awareness scheme led by the Indian Navy would strengthen coastal security.

Manmohanspeak

Infiltration up in J&K We are beginning to see increasing infiltration attempts, from across the Line of Control (LoC) and even the International Border. Social media misuse The use of bulk SMS and social media to aggravate the communal situation is a new challenge... We need to understand how these new media are used by miscreants and devise strategies to counter the propaganda carried out by these new means.

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba militants had sailed into Mumbai by boat in November 2008 and launched shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai killing over 160 persons. Since then, Indian security forces have initiated several measures to ensure a secure 7,500-km India coastline.

Referring to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said there were increasing attempts at infiltration by terrorists from across the Line of Control and even the International Border (with Pakistan). There has been an improvement in the security environment which resulted in a successful Amarnath Yatra this year and a record number of tourists visiting the state, he said.

Expressing concern over “erosion in inter-community relations”, the PM said, “It is something that should worry us all. The police needs to re-orient and effectively track the sentiments of the people and inter-community tensions.” The PM suggested training police personnel to develop their soft skills to use saner elements of society to marginalise those who are intolerant and have a system of advance identification of potential troublemakers.

The PM expressed concern over the “increase in communal incidents in the country and revival of ethnic tensions in the North-East”.