New DelhiA fresh initiative to bring in peace in restive Jammu and Kashmir, tightening the noose on “erring” NGOs and cross-border firing-related incidents kept the Union Home Ministry busy in 2017.
The Narendra Modi government in October had announced the appointment of a special representative to initiate “sustained dialogue” with all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir, in a fresh move aimed at bringing peace to the troubled state.
Accepting the task, former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma has been visiting the restive state, holding talks with a cross-section of people to understand the legitimate aspirations of people, especially the youth, and try to fulfill them.
Based on his recommendation, the Jammu and Kashmir government has already taken an initiative to withdraw cases against around 5,000 youths who were accused of pelting security forces with stones and identified as “first time offenders”.
The central government has also released nearly Rs 20,000 crore of the Rs 80,000-crore development package for Jammu and Kashmir announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pakistan violated the ceasefire a total of 881 times along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir this year, killing 30 people.
Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir has said Pakistan has violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir 771 times till December 10, and 110 times along the IB till November-end.
In these incidents of firing from across the border, 30 people — 14 Army personnel, 12 civilians and four BSF personnel — were killed.
Registration of around 4,500 NGOs were cancelled by the home ministry for violating various provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
Top academic institutions like IGNOU, Mumbai University and Indian Council of Medical Research were among 4,842 entities given ultimatum by the ministry to retain their licences to receive foreign funding by coming clean on their accounts.
The ministry also asked as many as 5,845 organisations to open their accounts in banks having core banking facilities and furnish details for real time access to security agencies in case of any discrepancy.
As a result of such strong action, foreign funding to Indian NGOs has come down drastically from Rs 17,773 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 6,499 crore in 2016-17 and number of functional FCRA registered NGO has come down to around 10,000 from 24,000 three years ago.
The home ministry also provided around 85,000 security personnel for deployment in the assembly elections in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur — in February-March.
The ministry also provided around 30,000 security personnel for poll duties in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh recently.
Maoists violence continued unabated in states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand where rebels targetted both security forces and civilians multiple times.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said the Naxal problem continues to be a matter of concern for internal security and the menace has badly hit 35 districts in seven states.
The home ministry’s communication to states to identify and deport Rohingya Muslims created a huge controversy with rights group strongly opposing it.
In its letter to state governments, the ministry said illegal immigrants like the Rohingyas pose grave security challenges as they may be recruited by terror groups and the states should identify and deport them.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
