Violent incidents caused by Left-wing extremism reduced, says government

The Government on Tuesday said the number of violent incidents and resultant deaths caused by the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) have reduced by 43.4% and 60.4% respectively during last 5 years (2014-18) compared to 2009-13.

Bharatiya Janta Party's Mandsaur MP Sudheer Gupta, Shiv Sena's Mumbai's North west seat MP Gajannan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Congress MP from Kerala Suresh Kodikunnil and BJP's Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahato raised a question in the Lok Sabha whether the country has witnessed a spurt in naxal attacks during recent times.

The four members also asked for the steps taken by the government to curb naxal presence in the country.

In his reply, Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy said, "The LWE scenario in the country has been consistently improving over the years both in terms of violence and geographical spread. The last five years has seen a significant improvement in the LWE scenario across the country."

He said that the Central Government has followed a holistic, multi-pronged approach for combating LWE. It supplements the efforts of state governments with a wide range of measures, including security, development and ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities. "Steadfast implementation of the Action Plan-2015 has resulted in consistent decline in both LWE violence and geographical spread of LWE influence."

To another question whether the government has in place a framework to regulate propagation of Left-wing and naxal ideology, the Minister said: "The Legal provisions of Indian Penal Code, 1861 and Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967 are available for dealing with the Left-wing extremism. The Communist Party of India (Maoist), its affiliates and front organizations are banned under UAPA, 1967,"

( With inputs from IANS )