The Himal World Desk
Siliguri, December 20: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday heaped praises on the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) for its yet unknown role in dealing with the problem of extreme communism as exemplified by Naxalism that over the past few decades has created, and is still creating, havoc in pockets of central and eastern India.
Addressing the 61st Raising Day of the SSB at the Frontier Headquarters at Ranidanga in Siliguri, Shah said that Bihar and Jharkhand had now become “Naxal-free” and that the Maoist movement was on the verge of being eliminated. He, however, did not provide details on how the SSB had played an instrumental role in eliminating the Naxal menace. SSB, as its name suggest, is a force established to man the country’s borders and not deal with internal security.  
While lauding the role of SSB in allegedly dealing with the Naxal menace, the Union hoime minister chose to remain silent on the problem of infiltration from Bangladesh which his party, the BJP, went to town with in the recent Jharkhand Assembly election.
“The SSB was the force that played a very important role and helped the CRPF and the local police in the anti-Naxalite campaign, which finally managed to rid the entire region of the Naxals. I can say with pride from this podium that after four decades, Bihar and Jharkhand has become Naxal-free and the SSB had an important role to play in it,” Shah said.
“When the Maoist movement, especially in Jharkhand and Bihar, is being eliminated, the SSB has taken up guard with bravery in Chhattisgarh now, and it is now on the verge of being eliminated,” Shah added.
According to him, in the past seven years in the region, over 600 Maoists had been arrested, over 15 killed and many had surrendered.
On the around 2450-km-long open borders with Nepal and Bhutan, the home minister said that the SSB had managed to remove several encroachments on the no-man’s land.
“Through this event, I want to tell the nation that the country’s home minister is not at all worried about security in the two borders of Nepal and Bhutan that span 2450 km, just because my SSB jawans are standing guard there,” Shah said.
Mentioning that the Siliguri corridor, often referred to as the chicken-neck area, was very important, Shah said: “The Siliguri corridor is a very important in eastern India. The corridor in between the Mahananda and Teesta (rivers) is an important route that connects the Northeast with the rest of India. The SSB’s presence in such a region has been the reason for the entire country to stay assured and breathe a sigh of relief.”
According to him, the SSB had managed to remove over 1100 cases of encroachment on no-man’s land on the Nepal border and that he considered this a very important achievement.
“The SSSB has adopted a zero-tolerance policy in stopping encroachment up to 15 km on govt land for past three years, and has managed to keep thousands of acres of the land free of encroachment without any dispute,” Shah said.
According to Shah, the SSB has managed to control smuggling of drugs, weapons, forest produce, wildlife, and fake currency with great efficiency and alertness.
“Over 4000 smugglers were arrested in the past one year, and 16000 kg of drugs, 208 weapons and huge caches of ammunition were seized,” he said, adding that the SSB had apprehended 183 human traffickers and saved 301 victims, including 231 girl children.
On the 61st anniversary of the border guarding force’s inception, Shah said, “This is a time to once again swear to bring to book all anti-national elements and end all anti-national activities that are happening along the borders of our friendly nations (Nepal and Bhutan).
In the long 61 years, the SSB has been awarded four Padma Shri, one Kirti Chakra, six Shaurya Chakra, two Rashtrapati Veerta Padak, 25 Police Veerta Padak, and 35 Veerta Padak, Shah told the programme. 
Shah also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for eight SSB projects worth around Rs 200 Crore.

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