E-Paper
‘Eventful, but peaceful year’
As India prepared to enter the new year without any major terror strikes in 2009, Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday expressed satisfaction on improvements in the security establishment but slammed the West Bengal government for its inability to contain the Naxals in Lalgarh.
As India prepared to enter the new year without any major terror strikes in 2009, Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday expressed satisfaction on improvements in the security establishment but slammed the West Bengal government for its inability to contain the Naxals in Lalgarh.
“I am disappointed over the Lalgarh situation...It is pretty depressing.” The Bengal government had failed to contain the problem despite enough central forces being sent in June, Chidambaram said at his monthly briefing to the media.
He also described as partially correct Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee blaming limitations of technology for failing to nab Maoist leader Kishenji, but refused to elaborate. That, he said, he would leave for a one-to-one with the CM.
Bhattacharjee had said mobile phone technology could not pinpoint the exact location of a subscriber, only the tower to which he was connected.
Chidambaram also suggested the coordinated operation being planned against Maoists would take about two to three years to contain the problem.
Describing 2009 as an eventful year, the minister said the “most satisfactory achievement” had been on the anti-terror front “where we had, fortunately, a year without terrorist attacks”.
In the Northeast, he said all but two or three leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) were in custody and people should expect “good news” on that front as well.
“We’re now in an advanced stage of talks with a number of militant groups. We have appointed an interlocutor P.C. Haldar. He is in talks with the militant groups that are in the North Cachar Hills, Karbi Anglong area, Bodoland council area… the talks are progressing very well.”
‘No rift over visa’
Chidambaram denied any rift with external affairs ministry over the new visa guidelines, saying External Affairs Minister
S.M. Krishna and he were “not only on the same page, but also singing from the same song”.
The ministry had introduced new visa guidelines that require a mandatory two-month cooling off period between two visits by a foreigner on a long-term tourist visa to India. “We’ve relaxed the guidelines by allowing three return visits,” he said. It would apply if the foreigners’ itinerary shows visit to India and other countries as part of the same trip.
J&K holds
There has been no decision to lift the ban on pre-paid phones in Jammu & Kashmir, Chidambaram said. The government, however, is open to revisiting the ban if the network service providers can come up with a hundred per cent verification plan, he said, pointing that discussions have been held with the providers in this regard.
