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Jaipur #Union #Home #Minister #RajnathSingh on Thursday said the failure of #Islamic State (#IS) to attract #Indian #Muslims was due to their complete integration into the mainstream. “Indian #Muslims are patriots and are not swayed by fundamentalist ideologies. Extremism is alien to their nature,” he said.
Launching a scathing attack on Pakistan, he said if the neighbouring country stops supporting terrorists, the security situation in South Asia will improve significantly.The Home Minister said the source of most terrorist activities in India lies across the borders and it is unfortunate that even after paying such a heavy price for itself, Pakistan and its associates find it difficult to understand that there are no “good terrorists and bad terrorists.”
“Differentiating terrorists into good and bad categories has failed miserably. If the ISI and the Pakistan Army stops their support to certain terror outfits, I have no hesitation in saying that the security situation in #South #Asia will improve significantly,” he said after inaugurating an international conference on counter terrorism.The Home Minister said that #Pakistan should seriously rethink its strategy of using terrorism as an instrument of proxy war and that it would be in its own national interests. “India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for the last several decades. #Terrorist organisations like #Lashkar-e-#Taiba and #Jaish-e-#Mohammad patronised by those across the border, have inflicted several acts of terror on the #Indian soil. There are several instances of such proxies being used in other parts of the world,” he said.
Mr. Singh said the menace of terrorism is greatly amplified in today’s digital world and an incident in one corner of the globe can instantly spark a reaction thousands of miles away where a ‘lone wolf’ or a ‘DIY (do it yourself) #terrorist’ can go online and learn how to carry out an attack without even leaving home.
Mr. Singh said the influence of the Islamic State on the Indian youths is negligible. “According to our intelligence agencies, just a handful of Indian youths has joined the ISIS and some have returned after being persuaded by their families,” he said.
He said India as a country is proud of all its diversity and has the second largest #Muslim #population in the world after #Indonesia.
“India is home to all 73 firqas of Muslims and it houses one of the oldest church known to mankind in the world. We have been practising philosophy of peaceful coexistence for centuries,” he said.
The three-day Counter Terrorism Conference, 2015 will discuss issues like ‘illegal migration and border security’, ‘cyber space’, ‘social media and terrorism’, and ‘terror trade: weapons, narcotics and fake currency’ in separate sessions.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, former Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, former Army Chief Gen (retd) V.P. Malik, former chief of BSF Prakash Singh and other dignitaries will attend the conference.
Several foreign participants including former chief of Sri Lankan Army Sarath Fonseka and Admiral Jamers Loy, Senior Counsellor, Cohen Group, USA will also be part of the conference
Bureau Report
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