IS has failed to create base in India: Rajnath

Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the Islamic State (IS) has failed to make its base in India, which has the second largest Muslim population in the world. "India is the second country with the highest number of Muslims. Despite having that large a Muslim population, the IS has failed to spread its wings here," Singh said at a press conference here. He claimed the government has been able to provide security to the country with "full sensibility". "Through our focussed action against terrorism we have been able to achieve good results," the Home Minister said, addressing a press conference to mark three years of the BJP-led NDA government. Highlighting the government's achievements, Singh said that capital punishment was announced to five Indian Mujahideen operatives that was the "biggest blow" to the terror organisations. Emphasising on better coordination with states, he said: "With good coordination among the states we were able to control the spread of IS across the country." Lauding the role of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Singh said: "We have been able to arrest over 90 IS sympathisers. In the same way, the NIA has been able to convict the top leaders of NDFB(S) in northeast." The Minister said the government has banned terror organisations like the IS and Ansar-ul-Ummah under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Besides, the Islamic Research Foundation of controversial televangelist Zakir Naik has also been put under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Home Minister assured that the security condition in the country was under control. "Only two terror strikes happened between 2015-16, one in Punjab's Gurdaspur and the other in Pathankot," Rajnath Singh said. "And in both the attacks our forces were able to kill the terrorists," the Minister added.