Internal Security challenges for India

Internal security is the security that lies within the borders of a country. It ensures the maintenance of peace, law & order and protection of sovereignty within territory of a country. Internal security is different from external security. External security is considered as the security against aggression by a foreign country. Maintaining the external security is the responsibility of the armed forces of the country such as the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force in India. While internal security comes under the purview of the police, which can also be supported by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) as per the requirement. In India, the internal security matters are governed by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). If we look at the past, India’s internal security problems have multiplied because of linguistic riots, inter-state disputes and ethnic tensions. Our country was forced to redefine its inter state boundaries due to linguistic riots in 1956. After that, the rise of Naxalism was also seen as a threat to internal security in India. At the time of independence, our country was under-developed. The country adopted the equitable and inclusive growth model for growth and development. This situation was exploited by various people or groups to pose a very dangerous challenge to the country’s internal security in the form of Naxalism and Left-Wing Extremism. In the Global Terrorism Index 2020, India has been ranked at 8th place in the list of countries most affected by terrorism. India continues to deal with terrorist activity on different fronts like terrorism related to territorial disputes in J&K and secessionist movement in Assam. India needs to implement all of its national powers in a coordinated manner to address its security issues and this will happen only when we give national level importance to internal security in India.