Terrorists and extremists seek to attack the democratic and secular fabric of the country and they would continue to try to keep everyone on tenterhooks, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Monday.
“Terrorism and extremism seek to attack our two most significant achievements- secularism and democracy. Our enemies who are at cross purposes with the ‘idea of India’, will continue to attempt to keep us on tenterhooks, and unsettle us, as we move forward in our endeavour of nation building,” he said.
Shinde was speaking on the occasion of foundation day of National Investigation Agency (NIA), and said these values lie at the very core of India’s existence, and bind its citizen as a ‘nation’.
The Minister said the threats to the country need not merely take on conventional forms and may emanate from hitherto unknown areas, methods, and motivations and security agencies need to keep themselves prepared in this fight.
“We need to undertake capacity enhancement and upgrade our skill sets, so as to confront the most virulent and most unusual of these threats.”
“Eternal vigilance is the price we have to pay in our quest for preserving and maintaining, our hard earned freedom, liberty, democracy, and secularism,” he said.
