NEW DELHI: A review of the home ministry’s major decisions and initiatives during the year 2020, put out on Thursday by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), underscores home minister Amit Shah’s intervention to bring the law and order situation in Delhi under control in the wake of communal riots that broke out in parts of the national capital in February last year.
The section on Delhi riots records how the home minister had chaired a meeting with political parties and senior officials on the issue of violence in Delhi on February 25, days after the outbreak. The year-end review records how the home minister had, at a meeting with political parties on February 25, urged the latter to avoid provocative speeches. “He noted that the professional assessment is that the violence in the capital has been spontaneous,” it says, adding the home minister had directed deployment of additional forces in affected areas.
The PIB document also states that terrorist incidents in Jammu & Kashmir in 2020 (up to November 15) fell 63.93% as compared to the corresponding period in 2019. “There was also a decrease in fatalities of special forces personnel by 29.11% and decrease in casualties of civilians by 14.28% in 2020 (up to November 15) as compared to the corresponding period in 2019,” it adds.
Among the other achievements listed are passing of amendments to Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, for tighter monitoring of receipts and utilisation of foreign funds by NGOs and associations, and banning of 27 terrorists, including mostwanted terrorist masterminds based in Pakistan and Khalistani terrorists, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
The PIB paper also mentions that Shah informed the Rajya Sabha that many social media accounts were created a day before the riots began and were shut down once the riots ended. “He resolved to bring all those who instigated riots on social media to justice,” it states.
“The home minister also reassured the people that no document would be demanded during NPR exercise and that nobody will be classified as doubtful on citizenship grounds, on the basis of NPR,” the document says.