Rajnath Singh Right On North-East Violence Claim, Wrong On Naxal Incidents Claim

Home minister Rajnath Singh claimed in a speech in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on August 20, 2017, that the National Investigation Agency (NIA), an organisation entrusted with investigating terrorism and other national security threats, has played a crucial role in curbing terrorism.

Singh was mostly right when it came to the decline in incidents of extremism in the north-east but was way off the mark on naxalism, our factcheck, based on home ministry data, has revealed.

Singh said the incidents of extremism in the north-east came down 75% over the past three years.

There has been a 70% decline in the number of incidents from 824 in 2014 to 484 in 2016, according to data tabled by the home ministry in the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) on August 9, 2017.

Source: Rajya Sabha(Unstarred Question Number 2593, August 9, 2017)

Singh also claimed there has been an approximate 40% decline in the number of incidents of naxal violence in the past three years.

Our factcheck showed that there has only been a 4% decline from 1,091 in 2014 to 1,048 incidents in 2016.

Source: Rajya Sabha(Unstarred Question Number 2593, August 9, 2017)

(Sethi is a Mumbai-based freelance writer and defence analyst.)