Fight against terror, infiltration, religious tension to continue, says Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the fight against terrorism, infiltration and conspiracy to create religious tension will continue even though the country has established relative peace in Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and Naxal-affected areas.

Addressing a function here on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day, Shah said the sacrifice of police martyrs will not go in vain and the country will definitely become a fully developed nation by 2047.

“In the last 10 years, relative peace has been established in Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeastern region and LWE-affected areas. However, our fight is not over. We will continue to fight against narcotics, cybercrime, conspiracy to create religious tension, infiltration, and terrorism among others which continue to pose challenges to us,” he said.

The home minister said since independence, 36,438 police personnel have laid down their lives for the safety and security of the country, with 216 of them in the last year.

He said the country will remain forever grateful for their sacrifice in the country’s development journey.

“I want to assure the family members of the martyrs that their sacrifice will not go in vain. The country will remain safe and achieve its goal despite any challenge which may come in the way and India will definitely become a developed nation by 2047,” he said.

Referring to the three new criminal laws, which came into force on July 1, Shah said work to establish the infrastructure for the implementation of the new laws had started five years ago and the remaining work will be completed in the next three years.

“I want to tell the country that India’s criminal justice system will be the most modern in the world and full justice up to the Supreme Court could be delivered within three years of the registration of an FIR,” he said.

Giving details about the steps taken for the welfare of the police personnel, the home minister said the police personnel and their family members can now avail treatment in any Ayushman hospital after the implementation of the ‘Ayushman CAPF’ scheme.

To enhance the housing satisfaction of the CAPF personnel, he said approval has been given for the construction of 13,000 houses of which 11,276 will be ready by March next year.

The Police Commemoration Day function was held at the National Police Memorial here.

Before his speech, Shah paid floral tributes to all police personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

On October 21, 1959, 10 policemen died in the line of duty during an ambush laid by heavily armed Chinese troops at the Hot Springs in Ladakh. Since then, every year October 21 has been observed as Police Commemoration Day to honour these martyrs and all other police personnel who died in the line of duty.