All over the country, law-enforcement agencies are facing unforeseen challenges posed by terrorist violence, the 8th report of the Veerappa Moily-led Second Administrative Reforms Commission, citing figures from the home ministry, has said.
For instance, while Left wing extremism abated dramatically in Andhra Pradesh — from 310 incidents that caused 74 casualties in 2004 to 138 incidents and 45 casualties in 2007— there was a correspondingly sharp increase in Left extremism in Chhattisgarh during the period — from 352 incidents and 83 casualties in 2004 to 582 incidents and 369 casualties in 2007 —suggesting that the activists are shifting camp rather than giving up bad habits.
The Andhra Pradesh government began talking to the exrtremists immediately after coming to power in 2004.
Jharkhand, one of India’s most prosperous states in terms of mining, recorded 379 incidents which took 169 lives in 2004, while 482 incidents in 2007 led to 157 deaths.
Violence in the North-East shows a steady pattern, the report says. In 2003, 1,332 incidents claimed 494 civilian lives. In 2007, 498 civilians died in 1,489 incidents, suggesting that all the money and effort to control this violence has not had any appreciable effect, except keeping the incidents at manageable levels.
In Jammu & Kashmir, where clashes take place between security personnel and infiltrators as well as locals, there has been a dramatic decrease in levels of violence since a government was installed there in 2002.
In 2003, a year after assuming power, the government reported 3,401 incidents and 795 civilian deaths. This came down vastly in 2007, when 131 civilians were killed in 887 incidents. There has been a consistent decline in all three indicators of violence: The number of incidents, deaths of civilians and deaths od security personnel.
| TERROR: IN FACTS AND FIGURES | ||||||
| State | 2003 | 2005 | 2007 | |||
| Incidents | Casualties | Incidents | Casualties | Incidents | Casualties | |
| Andhra Pradesh | 577 | 140 | 535 | 208 | 138 | 45 |
| Bihar | 250 | 128 | 186 | 96 | 135 | 67 |
| Chhattisgarh | 256 | 74 | 385 | 168 | 582 | 369 |
| Jharkhand | 342 | 117 | 312 | 119 | 482 | 157 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 13 | 1 | 20 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| Maharashtra | 75 | 31 | 94 | 53 | 94 | 25 |
| Orissa | 49 | 15 | 42 | 14 | 67 | 17 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 13 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| West Bengal | 6 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 32 | 6 |
| Kerala | 12 | - |
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Interestingly, the number of terrorists killed has also come down, from 1,494 in 2003 to 358 in 2007. The report says this has a direct bearing on New Delhi’s confidence building measures, not only with Jammu & Kashmir but also with Pakistan.
