Defense Minister Rajnath Singh recently said that no major terror attack occurred since PM Modi took over in 2014 implying India was safer.
His statement stirred up outrage because there have been series of attacks in India over the last few years.
Below are the number of security forces martyred from the Naxal Maoist attacks from 2014 to 2021
Died – Year
87 – 2014
57 – 2015
66 – 2016
26 – 2017
25 – 2018
15 – 2019
24 – 2021
In fact, the worst Maoist attacks occurred during the last 10 years with the Sukma attack in April 2017 where 25 CRPF jawans were martyred, the worst Naxal attack in decades.
Attacks in Kashmir since 2014:
While Prime Minister Modi promised that demonetization would stop terror attacks and the abrogation of Article 370 would bring peace, there have been series of increasing attacks in Kashmir since PM Modi took over despite Kashmir being the most militarized zone in the world. While Kashmir is swarming with the army, unlike ever before, these onslaughts could not be stopped. These incidents occurred in Pulwama, Pathankot, Gurdaspore, Amarnath, Surjanpur, Kupwara, Baramulla, and other places.
In 2016, the most dangerous terror attack in Uri occurred when jawans were struck early in the morning when they were sleeping and in the ensuing gun battle, 19 soldiers lost their lives in the lethal battle.
Pulwama attack in 2019 was one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were martyred by a suicide bomber and intel had warned the government of a terror attack yet the BJP government did not pay heed to the warning.
The lists are almost daily and endless, with attacks from Pakistan, attacks on government ministers in Kashmir, killed sometimes in their own homes. Every day, ceasefire violations take place, and it is reported that 400 jawans have been martyred in Jammu and Kashmir alone. In fact, the BJP Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir BJP, Davinder Singh was caught ferrying terrorists just before Republic Day celebrations.
The Congress party slams the Defence Minister for this and states that from May 2014 to August 2021, 3043 terror attacks have occurred!
In order to boost one man & one party's image, the Defence Minister does not even hesitate to lie.
BJP's misuse of nationalistic sentiments will never be forgiven. pic.twitter.com/F2KdFZpTZv
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 3, 2021
How is India Internally After 2014?
A few people may say they feel safer since PM Modi took the chair, but internally, India is existing on faulty earthquake zones ready to erupt any moment and most are not feeling safe.
How safe does one feel living in neighborhoods that suddenly hate you because of your religion or when members of families get incited because you support another political party, or if you own a few cows you could get lynched because you are walking your cows home? How safe do women feel when after getting raped, government ministers blame the women for their “character?” and seem more supportive of the perpetrator, letting them off the hook after a brief arrest, or when police try to mute their complaints or refuse to take them? How safe do farmers feel if their lands could be taken off them and they lose all their rights and autonomies? How safe do Kashmiris feel when they are muted and locked up at the drop of a hat? Freedom of expression is one of the gifts of the Constitution, but they don’t have it. Being the most militarized zone in the world, is it needed to put curfews and take off the Internet and phones when there is no violence?
Who is feeling safe when people all around you are getting more polarized?
Muslims, Dalits, Christians, Hindus, and others, intercaste battles are bursting while lynching and killing are raging, rampant rapes on women, the brutal Delhi riots.
On a rough survey asking people who safe they felt in India, very few did. The Dalits who are 25% of India do not feel safe with erupting caste wars, suppression, violence, and killing, the Muslims consisting of 10.9% feel insecure with the lynching and hate displayed to them.
The students did not feel safe. Attacks in JNU, (Jawaharlal Nehru University), where healthy debates in the past were commonplace and part of the cultural legacy of these universities but took an ugly turn since 2016 and a horrible culmination in 2020 with attacks by the police on the students.
In 2020, the Jamia Millia Islamia attack by the police on peaceful studying students, who entered the university library and washrooms and in the process of the violence ransacked parts of it. The visuals of students being dragged and assaulted by the police were telecast by news channels where two hundred people were injured and were admitted to the hospital. No students felt protected after that. In fact, after the JNU attack, the whereabouts of Komal Sharma, the instigator of the rampage went missing. Her mysterious disappearance leaves the nation feeling an eerie unease.
The Delhi Riots taking 53 lives, right in front of former President Trump was a testament to the hatred towards Muslims and revealed that law and order were totally out of control as the Central Government commands the police in Delhi, stunningly the cops allowed the riots to happen, and were silent spectators and only stepped in after three days on 26 February after the Delhi High Court had ordered the police to help remove injured victims to hospitals!
Christians feel vulnerable since Prime Minister Modi took charge. Shibu Thomas founder of an Indian Nonprofit organization called Persecution Relief in 2016 was recording the violence and working with police in regions where Christians were attacked. Click on the blue links to gauge the violence towards Christians and how unsafe they feel under a BJP/RSS rule, especially with fake, fabricated stories of conversion that are inciting religious fanatics to a violent degree.
Rapes, violence, and murders of women have increased in India since 2014 and women are very unsafe. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and other states have the highest rapes. Uttar Pradesh is recorded as having the most cases of violence against women in 2019; across India, 87 rapes were reported per day per NCRB.
Forbes recorded that India is considered the fourth most dangerous place for women.
A survey conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation has rated India as the world’s most dangerous country for women, ahead of Afghanistan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. This of course sparked off extensive debates as Indian women also have many privileges, are far freer, very vocal, hold successful careers, have the freedom to work, drive, go to courts if mistreated, so cannot be compared to Syria or some other nations. However, the safety levels for women in terms of rape and sexual violence, murders, dowry deaths definitely reveal India as being unsafe for women.
A study of 2016 shows a woman was raped every 13 minutes; six women were gang-raped every day; a bride was murdered for dowry every 69 minutes, and 19 women were attacked with acid every month. There are thousands of daily reports of stalking, voyeurism, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. Indian women hesitate to record crimes due to feeling ashamed, afraid of consequences, and social isolation as well as worry that the police will not record her charges, thus, thousands of daily crimes go unreported and unrecorded.
The Farmers Protests have also resulted in violence towards nonviolent protests, though the government is more careful after severe criticism against the police brutality hitting old farmers with sticks and pouring water cannons on quiet protests in the freezing winter. It is recorded that 477 protesters lost their lives in the last six months during the protests due to camping out in the freezing winter and other reasons, a few died due to police brutality although the Center insists there were no deaths due to the protests. The Farmers Protests is reported to be the largest protest in world history, but unfortunately, the government is downplaying its magnitude asserting that most of the farmers are happy with the new farm laws.
The truth is, the enemy within is far more dangerous than the enemy outside, and presently, in a polarized nation, India has been far more unsafe under Prime Minister Narendra Modi due to internal conflicts, journalists arrested randomly, big wigs raided if they open their mouths, rioting, lynching, raping in a climate of polarity, fake news, and fear.
Update:
I conducted a tiny poll on Twitter open to a mixed crowd, a tiny fragment of society but it still speaks, and of the 1096 votes, 93% did not feel safe and 7% felt safer after PM Modi became Prime Minister. Interestingly, a lot who should have felt safer such as Hindu Brahmins did not feel safer.
I feel this question is really important.
Since 2014, do you feel safer and more protected in India than previously?— Rita (@MukandRita) September 4, 2021