Rise in infiltration cause for concern: Congress

The Congress today expressed concern over the rise in incidents of infiltration in the country and demanded that accountability be fixed.
Voicing serious concerns over the issue, Congress spokesperson Gaurav Gogoi asked the government to "match its rhetoric with action" in securing the country's borders and making them foolproof.
"There has been a sharp rise in the incidents of infiltration from across the border in the last two years. The official data shows that the government's efforts to secure our borders are not successful.
"We want our borders to be safe. We want the government's action to match its rhetoric. We note with concern the rise in number of people infiltrating borders since 2014. Who is accountable for the rise of infiltration on our borders?" he told reporters.

Gogoi took on the Prime Minister for making tall claims and said he has been talking of terrorism at various local, regional and international fora making terrorism a pet subject of his.
"So despite having its own government in the state (J&K), despite having a vociferous Defence Ministry, there have been certain changes recently and despite having a PM who has made counter insurgency and terrorism a priority; then who is accountable for the rise in infiltration and net infiltration at our borders?" he asked.

"The question is who is accountable? It is a serious issue no doubt but accountability has to be fixed and we see that the BJP-PDP government is there in the state," the Congress leader said, adding that the Defence Ministry speaks boldly about itself "as if it taught the Army soldiers how to hold the gun, shoot a gun".

He said the government data shows that in 2014, there were 222 people who tried to infiltrate. In 2015, it was 121, while in 2016, it rose to 371.
The Congress leader said the data presented in Lok Sabha on infiltration painted a "serious picture" and accountability needs to be fixed.
"We want our borders to be fully secure. We want the government to take serious steps and match rhetoric with action because the facts show the opposite of all its talk.
Gogoi said even the Supreme Court has remarked that the borders in the East are not adequately protected.

He said the government report in the wake of the Pathankot attacks is currently gathering dust.
"It seems that no lesson has been learnt from Pathankot incident," he said.
The Congress leader also asked if the government will call a series of meetings to identify the reasons for rise in infiltration.
"Will the PM himself chair a series of meetings to identify as to why the number of people who have successfully managed to infiltrate and net infiltration has jumped from 33 to 119, why number of people who has attempted to infiltrate has jumped from 121 to 371 and the question is whether the Government is serious about Border protection?," he asked, noting that PM holds meeting over ease of doing business.