Union Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the government is committed to upholding democratic values and assured that “there will never be any effort to compress the pressure cooker”, reported The Indian Express.

Singh’s comment comes after the Supreme Court on Wednesday said dissent was “the safety valve of democracy” and that “if you don’t allow safety valve, [the] pressure cooker will burst.” The court made the remark while placing five human rights activists and writers arrested the previous day under house arrest till the next hearing on September 6.

“All have the right to speak, do whatever they want in democracy but no one will be allowed to destabilise the country or create violence,” Singh said at an event in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow.

Singh said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government was committed to upholding democratic values. “In 2012 too, many of them [activists] were arrested and at that time also similar allegations were raised,” he said. “Any effort to destabilise any government, taking refuge in one’s ideology for promoting violence, conspiring to destabilise and break the country – I feel there cannot be a bigger crime than this.”

Singh said Maoist rebels have moved to cities because of a crackdown on them by the central government and are trying to influence public opinion and spread their ideology in urban India, reported the Hindustan Times. He said he received the information through intelligence agencies.

“From 126 districts earlier, Naxalite activities have now been restricted to just 10-12 districts because of the action taken by us,” he said. “But now they [the Maoists] are adopting a new strategy. They have come to the cities and are trying to influence people.”

Speaking on mob lynchings, Singh said, “no country can guarantee zero violence”. “But strong measures are being taken to prevent such incidents,” he said, adding that a committee headed by the Union home secretary has submitted a report based on which directives have been issued to all state governments.

On the National Register of Citizens, Singh said the government has the right to know “how many people have come from across the border and are now living [in India] by posing as Indian citizens”.

Singh also said a caste census was essential to ensure different groups receive the benefits of reservation in proportion to their population.