‘Internal security situation in country has improved’

People cooperating with State machinery, says T.N. Governor

Though some security concerns persist, the situation in Kashmir, the North East of India and the Maoist areas has improved. The number of deaths of Indian soldiers and civilians had come down significantly now not only because of the intervention of the State but also by the cooperation of the civilian population, which is cooperating with the State machinery, said Governor of Tamil Nadu R. N. Ravi here on Sunday. He was speaking at a function in the city, organised by the human rights organisation Vigil on ‘Contemporary challenges to internal security’ in the country.

Governor of Goa P. S. Sreedharan Pillai and former judge of the Supreme Court Cyriac Joseph were among the speakers at the forum on Sunday. The Goa Governor said that the unity and integrity of India was an example to the world and cited the example of how former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had pointed out to Russian leader Michael Gorbachev about holding a country together in unity. He also emphasised how Indian democracy was rooted in providing power to the people and the importance of 'dharma' in a society.

The former judge of the Supreme Court, who delivered the presidential address, said that the unity and integrity of the country was a Constitutional value and every citizen needed to be aware of it.

The Tamil Nadu Governor, who was formerly the interlocutor in Naga peace talks and who delivered the keynote address, said that people had started rejecting terrorism and pointed to the case of States like Nagaland where investments, including foreign investments were coming in. This is a sign of the situation coming to normality. The number of districts, known as the Red Corridor, in Central India where there was Maoist influence had come down significantly now, he said.

He also said that India was not just the name of a geography but that of a communion of people, who have come together to form a nation. The wrong idea that India was the name of a geography was spread by the British, he added.