India's worst terrorism- or insurgency-affected places: What data shows

“All facts checked and all the details taken, it is true that between 2014 and today vis-a-vis 2004 and 2013, except for Kashmir, has there been any terrorist or minor bomb attack anywhere else in the country? Let’s talk on facts (sic),” Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on February 25 in Bengaluru.  But a fact check suggests otherwise.

As many as 9,125 “terrorist/insurgent/ extremist incidents”–from Jammu & Kashmir (1,708), North-east (2,442) and the “hinterland” (6) – were reported between 2014 and 2018, according to a Lok Sabha reply on February 5 this year. Left-wing extremism was reportedly behind 4,969 of these incidents.
 

Of the total number of incidents in the period, 81% or 7,417 were not from J&K. These 7,417 incidents resulted in 3,068 casualties.
 

Between 2004 and 2013, the period Sitharaman uses in her comparison, 37,796 “terrorist/insurgency/extremism incidents” were reported in India, government data show.

Chart source: Lok Sabha: July 21, 2009; Lok Sabha: November 24, 2009; Lok Sabha: August 6, 2013; Lok Sabha: December 10, 2013; Lok Sabha: December 1, 2015; Lok Sabha: February 5, 2019; Ministry of Home Affairs Annual Report: 2006-07; 2008-09; 2010-11; 2012-13; 2013-14, IndiaSpend