‘Terrorism is the biggest violation of human rights’: Amit Shah slams Pakistan over terrorist ideology

Image courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: In a veiled attack on Pakistan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday stressed on the need to achieve a consensus among countries across the world to tackle cross-border propagation of terrorist ideologies through online radicalisation. Shah`s remarks came while addressing the closing session of Interpol`s 90th General Assembly, organized in the national capital. The Home Minister said he firmly believes that "terrorism is the biggest violation of human rights". In order to fight cross-border terrorism, the minister also emphasized that "across-border cooperation is very important, and for this Interpol is the best platform".

"First of all, all countries must agree on the definition of terrorism and terrorist. The commitment to fight terrorism together, and narratives such as good terrorism, bad terrorism and small and big terrorist attacks, do not go together," Shah said. "We also need to achieve a consensus on the cross-border propagation of terrorist ideologies through online radicalization."

The Home Minister further pointed "we cannot consider this to be a political problem". "We must all be committed to ensuring that an effective fight against terrorism should be long-term, comprehensive and sustainable," Shah said.

The Home Minister ensured that India is committed to working with Interpol to "fight all forms of terrorism and to provide technical assistance and human resources". Noting that the Interpol nodal agency and the counter-terror agencies are different in many countries, Shah said we will have to "bring together all the counter-terrorism agencies of the world in order to fight terrorism".

In this regard, Shah said, "I request Interpol to launch an initiative to set up a permanent mechanism for a `real-time information exchange line` between counter-terror agencies of all member countries."

Shah said over the last 100 years, Interpol has become a very large and effective platform comprising 195 countries, playing a very important role in controlling crime across the world. "Today, terrorism is a global problem and it is very appropriate that it is the first and most important of the seven global policing goals of Interpol for the period 2020-2025."

Given challenges such as the emerging trends of global trade in narcotics, and narco terror, Shah said close cooperation is needed between all countries. The minister sought cooperation on platforms for the exchange of information and intelligence; intelligence-based joint campaigns; regional maritime security cooperation; Mutual Legal Assistance; and an effective mechanism to fight money laundering.

He also mentioned how India`s Narcotics Control Bureau has achieved many successes in seizing narcotics, destroying them, and taking cases to their logical conclusion. Shah mentioned Interpol`s `Operation Lionfish` and India`s `Operation Garuda`, saying "I would like to tell you that under `Operation Lionfish`, the biggest seizure has been made in India". Shah requested Interpol to take the initiative towards setting up a "real-time information exchange network" between the anti-narcotic agencies of all member countries, as well as create an "extensive narco database".