News Brief
Amit Shah Called For Study Of Post 1974 Protests To Prevent Mass Agitations By Vested Interests: Report
(Photo: Amit Shah/X)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) to conduct an in-depth study of post-Independence protests, particularly those after 1974 with the aim of preparing a standard operating procedure (SOP) to prevent “mass agitations by vested interests” in the future, according to an Indian Express report.
Shah is understood to have issued these instructions at the ‘National Security Strategies Conference-2025’, organised by the Intelligence Bureau in New Delhi in late July.
As per the report, the BPR&D has been asked to examine the “reasons, patterns and outcomes” of past protests, along with their “behind-the-scene players” and financial dimensions.
To strengthen this assessment, the agency will coordinate with state police forces and gather old case files, including Crime Investigation Department (CID) reports.
Financial investigation bodies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) are also being roped in to scrutinise the “financial aspects” of agitations.
These agencies have separately been tasked with framing an SOP to detect hidden terror networks and dismantle their funding structures by tracing financial irregularities.
The report further stated that the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Border Security Force (BSF) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have been told to create targeted frameworks for addressing Khalistani extremism and criminal activity in Punjab.
“The intelligence agencies should constitute a team of officers with good background knowledge of Punjab-related issues for developing a framework of different approaches to deal with these issues,” an official was quoted as saying.
The NIA has additionally been urged to adopt an out-of-the-box approach to disrupt the terror-criminal nexus, including moving jailed gang leaders to prisons outside Punjab to weaken their influence.
The report assumes significance as it comes in the wake of the Gen-Z protests in Nepal, in which a foreign hand has been suspected by analysts and political commentators.
