Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Speech at Conference of DGPs/IGPs

My Cabinet colleague, Minister of Home, Shri L.K. Advani,

Ministers of State for Home, Shri Vidya Sagar Rao, Shri I.D. Swami,

Cabinet Secretary,

Principal Secretary,

Home Secretary,

Director, Intelligence Bureau,

Directors General of Police,

Senior Officers and Delegates:

I am happy to be with you today at the Annual Conference of DGPs and IGPs.

Over the years, this conference has emerged as an important forum for interaction among those who lead the various State police forces and Central Police Organisations. It offers a platform to discuss new challenges posed by the changing nature of crime and emerging forces of destabilisation.

These challenges have acquired a menacing dimension in recent times. To overcome them, we need to evolve means and methods that will place the state at an advantage over criminals, both in terms of preventing crime as well as bringing the guilty to book.

The police form an important instrument of the state in any open and democratic society. One of the criteria that define a free society is safety and security of all citizens. Freedom from fear and insecurity is integral to building such a society.

The responsibility for ensuring freedom from fear and instilling confidence among the people rests, to a large extent, with the police. This responsibility is best fulfilled if the police personnel efficiently discharge their duties in accordance with the laws of the land.

Not only can we then ensure freedom from fear, but also rapid social and economic development. For, progress is best assured when there is rule of law and social stability.

I mention this because the collective desire of the people of India that their country should emerge as a prosperous and modern state faces a serious challenge. Hostile forces emanating from our neighbourhood have stepped up their subversive activities, seeking to undermine our democratic polity, damage our social fabric and disrupt our economic progress.

The internal security scenario, therefore, poses cause for serious concern.

Terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India, engineered by protagonists of terror across the border, is an example of the challenges we face. We have seen no dilution in Pakistan’s attempts to intensify its proxy war against India.

Indeed, Pakistan has stepped up its terror campaign in direct proportion to the mounting desire for peace among the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Everybody knows the manner in which Pakistan-backed terrorist organisations sabotaged the peace talks in Jammu and Kashmir.

The law and order situation in the North-East is also worrisome. Separatist and terrorist groups, apart from criminals bereft of ideology of any shade, continue to indulge in violence and extortion. This has adversely affected development schemes.

In these trying circumstances, the police forces, especially of Jammu and Kashmir, have been valiantly performing their duties. I compliment them for fearlessly combating terrorism and related crimes. On behalf of a grateful nation, I salute those men and officers who have made the supreme sacrifice.

Yet another challenge to our internal security is the scourge of Left extremism. Innocent people in several States continue to fall victim to these perpetrators of violence. We must deal with a firm hand Left extremist groups to drive home the message that there is no space for violence in a democratic polity.

In this context, I would urge the police of the States, for instance Andhra Pradesh, which have done well in tackling this menace, to share their experience with the police of other States. A joint effort can take us a long way in defeating political extremism that rests on violence.

This conference affords an excellent platform for sharing such views and experiences. Thus making the conference a useful exercise.

I began by talking about new challenges to our society and the need for the police to evolve new means to overcome them. The impressive agenda for this conference lists many such issues of contemporary and future relevance.

For instance, you have rightly included ~Policing in the Next Millennium~ and ~Technological advancement and its implications on crime~ for detailed discussion and deliberation. The 21st century policeman is vastly different from the lathi-wielding law-enforcer of the 20th century.

This is as true for India as for the rest of the world. In the West, the proverbial ‘Bobby’ and the ‘Copper’ have made way for highly skilled, highly motivated and highly equipped policemen. There is no reason why we should lag behind.

India’s police personnel in the new century have to be intelligent, disciplined, suave and adept in the use of modern technology. That is the only way to keep pace with the changing profile of crime – for example, cyber crime and cyber terrorism.

We have to take note of emerging trends of criminal activity in the new century today so as to be prepared to face the challenges of tomorrow.

In this connection, I am happy that CBI recently held a seminar on cyber crime. I am sure that this has helped sensitise officers of various state police forces about the menacing potential of this new crime.

But this by itself is not enough. We have to train a large number of specialist police officers to investigate and successfully bust cyber crime.

All this, of course, means providing the police with new skills and equipment. No doubt efforts are on to modernise police forces, but there are resource constraints that stand in the way. These can be partly overcome through improved training, better tactics and accurate intelligence.

Government is aware of the limitations of resources and trained manpower. The Union Home Minister is taking personal interest in seeing that these handicaps are removed as expeditiously as possible.

At the recent Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security, I had announced Government’s decision to increase the allocation of funds for modernisation of police forces from Rs.200 crores to Rs.1000 crores per year. I had also called upon State Governments to come up with matching grants.

It is not enough to talk about modernising police forces or upgrading the equipment at their disposal. Resources have to be mobilised, by the Union and the State Governments, to modernise the police by training and equipping them. This is a responsibility that has to be shared jointly: We have stepped forward; we now expect the State Governments to do so.

We must at all times remember that the nation’s security is an indivisible, single entity. We cannot see it merely as being constructed by the law and order of individual States. It must be seen as securing the unity and integrity of our nation. Indeed, the very future of a billion people.

Today, we are dealing with organised crime that is often controlled from beyond our borders. We are dealing with criminals who are well equipped, highly focused and undeterred by consequences of their criminal deeds.

As the economy globalises, so does crime, at an even faster rate. Sophisticated international crime syndicates mastermind a complex network of political and economic crimes, claiming innocent victims in the pursuit of their diabolical objectives.

Printing and circulation of fake currencies, narcotics smuggling and extortion rackets are only part of their stock in trade. In fact, narcotics trafficking and its more violent manifestation, narco-terrorism, have had a dangerous impact on our internal security. This conference should deliberate on ways and means of launching a more effective battle against narcotics smuggling and its concomitant evils.

To tackle the criminal networks with their transnational tentacles, a new level of cooperative relationship has to be established between the police, intelligence agencies and the public.

Friends, internal security today is intrinsically linked to external security. The ramifications of the threats we face today are much deeper and wider than ever before. Hence, all agencies of the state, all wings of administration, civil and police, have to pool their resources in a combined fight against crime. The Centre and the States have to work in collaboration, in a spirit of cooperation.

A last point: A police force with an impeccable image and unimpeachable integrity acquires an effectiveness that no weapon or equipment can impart. I would urge you to ponder upon what needs to be done to correct popular impressions about the police. These may not be entirely founded, but the fact that such impressions should exist, is by itself cause for concern.

Before I conclude, I would like to congratulate the recipients of the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service. Through this award, the nation recognises your dedicated service under challenging circumstances.

This award also symbolises the high value that Government attaches to the role played by the police and security agencies in maintaining the nation’s internal security. Your selfless service will motivate and encourage all police personnel.

I am confident that under the able leadership of all of you attending this conference, India will be able to overcome challenges to her security and thus ensure freedom from fear for all her citizens.

Jai Hind!