Since 2014, the Narendra Modi government has committed itself to freeing India's democracy from the three scourge of terrorism. The Modi government in India has implemented a series of strategic measures aimed at bolstering resilience against terrorism, encompassing various regions grappling with separatism, insurgency, and extremist threats.
The appeasement policy of the previous governments had created many problems for the country. There was violence and unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, left-wing extremist-affected areas, and the Northeast for decades due to several wrong policies. India shares a land border with six countries and a maritime border with seven. For over 65 years, India has faced terrorism, extremism, and left-wing extremism on the internal security front, and thousands of innocent civilians and security personnel have become victims of these. However, since 2014, the Modi government has adopted the policy of zero tolerance and made a strategy to eliminate terrorism. It has not only considered it necessary to deal with terrorism but has also dealt with blowing up its ecosystem. Due to its two-pronged policy, the Modi government has achieved massive success in these three hotspots.
This success is attributed to the 'Whole of the Government' approach, cooperation and coordination between all the agencies. A robust legal framework for justice delivery, a technology-based database, and knowledge sharing is created. Under the multi-agency approach, the Modi government adopted a different policy in each theatre sector and achieved unexpected success in all three hotspots.
Between 2004 and 2014, the number of violent incidents was 33,000; between 2014 and 2023, it has come down by 62 per cent to 12,466. The total number of deaths among civilians and security forces has declined by 72 per cent from 11,900 to 3,276.
The Modi government abolished Articles 370 and 35A, which was fuelling separatism in Jammu & Kashmir for years. People in Kashmir have constitutional rights; today, there are more than 30,000 local representatives. Apart from this, more than 100 laws of the country that were not applicable in Jammu & Kashmir have been implemented for the people of Kashmir by removing Article 370.
In the last nine years, the Modi government has signed nine peace agreements in the Northeast under which more than 9,000 youth have given up arms and become mainstream. The Modi government has worked to resolve border, racial, and religious disputes in the Northeast. AFSPA has been removed from more than 70 per cent of the area. The Narendra Modi government has spent Rs 14 lakh crore on infrastructure development in the Northeast in just ten years between 2014 and 2024. Today, rail and air connectivity work is happening in all the Northeast states.
In the Left Wing Extremism-affected areas, PM Modi took many development and poor welfare schemes to the grassroots level. It drove the poor tribal people away from the leftist extremists. Due to this, the popular support base of the extremists was cut off, and by following a strict policy against those who had weapons in their hands, the Narendra Modi government has reduced 75 per cent of violence by strengthening the security arrangements in the entire area.
The Modi government has moved forward in this direction with the whole-government approach. The government emphasized education, poor welfare schemes for people experiencing poverty, strengthening infrastructure, and negotiation and peace agreements. Moreover, a strong message was given to those who did not respect the peace agreement by adopting a zero-tolerance policy against them. By placing tablets and laptops in the hands of the stone-carrying youth, PM Modi has given them the right to connect with India's growth story. Narendra Modi government has done the work of connecting youth with the development of Kashmir by making him a tourist guide instead of a terrorist standing with a gun.
According to the Modi government, if a country's borders are not secure, the country cannot remain safe because the security of the border is national security. His government worked to ensure the security of the borders through border security, border-to-border and people-to-people connectivity, and multidimensional and integrated policies. Under the Vibrant Village Programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has instilled confidence in the people by calling the village, which was considered the last village of the country, the country's first village. Over the previous two years, work has been done to achieve 100 per cent saturation of 300 government schemes in 6,000 border villages.
On the one hand, the Modi government has curbed terrorism by adopting a zero-tolerance policy against it; on the other hand, it has made several legal changes to create a robust judicial system. He said comprehensive and meaningful changes in anti-terrorism laws like UAPA have brought an enormous change. From independence until 2014, India had no internal and external security policy, and even if there was one, it was buried under the burden of India's foreign policy. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's foreign policy has also become apparent. New Delhi wants to maintain a friendship with the world, but we will not compromise the country's security and citizens. PM Modi has presented the country's internal and external security policy with thrust, and the world has also respected our rights.
