leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Wednesday emphasised the need to devise an effective mechanism for intelligence gathering and exhorted the Union Government to work in tandem with the States to counter terrorism. Jaitley said the States have to be taken together while fighting the menace and stressed that the areas of action have to be defined properly so as to put a strong counter to terrorism.
Speaking during a seminar on “National Counter Terrorism Centre” organised by India Foundation in the Capital, Jaitley said he doubted the repealing of the stringent anti-terrorist laws as they led to more terror strikes in the country. “The laws like TADA and POTA were to counter terrorism but I found repealing them absurd. Several strict provisions were scraped from them and introduced in other acts. The Government comes under political pressure and takes such steps. While POTA was anti-terrorism and anti-maoist Act, it was termed as anti-minority. As a consequent, we had to see 26/11,” he said.
He also commented on the functioning of the National Investigative Agency (NIA) saying the basic composition of NIA was against federal order of governance. “After 26/11 as a backlash, there were two States who had privately cautioned about the NIA that it would infringe upon the federal order of governance, if not the Constitutional order. I doubt their mode of functioning. The Intelligence Bureau and CBI have done a slight harm to their credibility,” Jaitley said adding the States must have the powers within themselves to counter terrorism backed by strong laws.
The panel at the seminar had also participation from Parliamentarians and strategic and security experts. Prominent among them were Baijayant Panda, lok Sabha MP from BJD, former R&AW chief AK Verma, security expert Ajay Sahni, former Special Director IB, NC Padhi and former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal. BJP MP Chandan Mitra presided over the function.
Speaking on the occasion, Panda said the position of regional parties for NCTC has been caricatured and that they were not against it. “We need considerate decision. “There are legitimate concerns in setting up NCTC. Some of them are civil liberties and individual rights. We see repeat of terrorist attacks and same blame game and finger pointing,” he said.
Former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said India faces the maximum threat of terrorism in the world. “We need to counter terrorism with complete political and national resolve. Considering the geo-politics of our country, the areas like Jammu & Kashmir have the maximum terrorist threat in 2014. The country needs more man-power to counter terrorism,” he said.