Terrorism should not be linked to any religion, says Amit Shah

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said terrorism should not be and cannot be linked to any religion, nationality, or group. He added that terrorism is the most serious threat to global peace and security.

Speaking at the third 'No Money for Terror Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing' hosted by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi, he said financing terrorism is more dangerous than the terrorism itself because the 'means and methods' of terrorism are nurtured from such funding. "Furthermore, financing of terrorism weakens the economy of countries of the world."

"Terrorists are constantly finding new ways to carry out violence, radicalise youth and raise financial resources. Darknet is being used by terrorists to spread radical content and conceal their identities," he added. The minister observed that the increased use of virtual assets like cryptocurrency falls within the patterns of these darknet activities.

He suggested the world needs to find solutions to such activities. "Transformation of terrorism from 'Dynamite to Metaverse' and 'AK-47 to Virtual Assets' is a matter of concern for the countries and everyone has to work together to formulate a common strategy against it," he stated.

The Home Minister further said the Indian government has made significant progress in fortifying the security architecture, as well as the legal and financial systems to confront terrorism. "It is the result of our continuous efforts that terrorist incidents in India have come down drastically. This has also resulted in a drastic reduction in the economic losses caused by terrorism," claimed the BJP leader.

He claimed that there are countries that seek to undermine and hinder the collective resolve to fight terrorism. "We have seen that some countries protect and shelter terrorists, protecting a terrorist is equivalent to promoting terrorism. It will be our collective responsibility that such elements never succeed in their intentions. We also have to expose the double-speak of such elements who sponsor and support them," he added.