10 states oppose Centre, NCTC’s future uncertain

Mangaloretoday/ CNN-IBN

New Delhi, May 5: The meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and state chief ministers on Saturday failed to end the deadlock on the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which is winding down to a close.

According to sources, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have suggested that a sub-committee must be formed to discus the formation of the anti-terror agency.

However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has rejected the NCTC, as has Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

 

Interestingly, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is the only Congress Chief Minister to cast a slightly dissenting note, saying he will support the NCTC, but with conditions.

One of the strongest oppositions came from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who cited the Batla House encounter, saying the Centre’s contradictory stand showed its inability to identify the enemy.

He said, "Even years after the Batla House encounter, the Union government seems uncertain whether or not it is a genuine encounter between the terrorists and Delhi Police, which functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs."

"If the Union government is unable to even properly identify and recognise the enemy, how does it propose to conduct a decisive war against it?" said Modi.

Coming out strongly against the NCTC, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa too hit out at the Home Ministry for treating "states like pawns on a chessboard".

She further said, "The NCTC, as has now been notified, should be kept in abeyance, as already advocated by me in my letter to the Hon’ble Prime Minister earlier, till the sub-committee of Chief Ministers gives its report. As a matter of fact, any discussion on NCTC is infructuous as long as the notification of NCTC is in force."

Apart from these, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said the powers given to the NCTC violated the Constitution and several amendments were required. He, however, demanded a National Hostage Police to deal with abduction cases.

Slamming the proposal of the government, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said no other democracy has given such wide ranging powers to their secret intelligence agencies

Earlier, opening the meet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached out to states saying the anti-terror body won’t infringe on state rights, but home minister Chidambaram defended NCTC saying terror knows no state boundaries.

The PM stressed that there is need for a one-stop-shop for counter-terror operations. He said the NCTC would coordinate counter-terror measures and give each state the capability to see the bigger picture of terror threats. But though the PM reached out to states, the Union Home Ministry seems to have dug in its heels, with the Home Secretary citing an SC judgement to show that counter-terrorism is within the Central government’s domain.