New Delhi:
Home Minister P Chidambaram today addressed concerns about recent terror attacks in Delhi and Mumbai. Mr Chidambaram referred to the bomb blasts in Mumbai in July, and last week's explosion at the High Court in Delhi as "a blot on our record."
"Two terrorist attacks in the space of two months are indeed a blot on our records. Naturally, the central government and security forces have been severely criticized, " he said.
The minister said it's important to credit security forces for having prevented several terror attacks since 2008, when 166 people were killed by nine Pakistani terrorists in Mumbai. "Since 26/11, security forces have neutralized 51 terror modules." Mr Chidambaram said that a group of 10 militants from SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) who were planning to assassinate three judges were arrested in June in Madhya Pradesh. He also said that a man named Zia ul Haq was arrested in Hyderabad in May 2010 and "major terrorist action against an MNC (multi-national company) was interrupted."
Mr Chidambaram said that it's important to remember that India is a target for multiple terror groups, including some at home - he referred to these as Indian modules attracting radicalized groups. "Some modules are loosely knit under an organisation called Indian Mujahideen (IM). Many old cadres of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) are morphed into IM cadres," he said.
Stressing that Afghanistan-Pakistan are the epicenter of terror, the Home Minister said, "Four out of five major terrorist groups are based in Pakistan, and three of them continue to target India."