The Hindu : Front Page : Chief Ministers call for strengthening intelligence

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 21, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Chief Ministers call for strengthening intelligence

Vinay Kumar

BJP-ruled States for tougher anti-terror law

NEW DELHI: A majority of the Chief Ministers who participated in the conference on internal security on Thursday called for the strengthening of intelligence machinery, better Centre-State coordination, more funds for modernisation of police forces and addressing economic and developmental issues that have a bearing on internal security.

In his closing remarks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said conferences of this nature send a strong message that the “political leadership of the country can rise above our political and party affiliations when it comes to facing national challenges, particularly those concerning internal security.”

Noting that opinions expressed by the Chief Ministers were varied and reflected the local realities, he expressed satisfaction that there was a general agreement on the approach to tackling the problem of naxalism and the conference discussed a wide range of alternative strategies.

Force to assist States

Dr. Singh asked the Home Minister to establish a dedicated trained force at the Centre either as part of an existing force or a separate one to assist States to tackle naxalite groups.

Pointing out that naxalite groups feed on the perceived lack of development, the Prime Minister said this would be corrected by better delivery of basic services and improved road and rail connectivity.

He said the Cabinet Secretary would coordinate efforts across a range of development and security activities in naxal-affected States.

On tackling terrorism, Dr. Singh said very often terrorist acts were designed to promote communal discord and it was for everyone to be alert to this danger. Facing terrorism would require patience, alertness, constant vigil, coordination between agencies, cooperation of common citizens and high level of intelligence-gathering capabilities. He assured all assistance to States to counter terror threats.

Dr. Singh said the Home Ministry would also consider setting up a specialised training facility for training police trainers from across the country.

The Chief Ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled States argued in favour of tough anti-terror law like the POTA and checking illegal migration from across the border.

The Prime Minister asked the States to accord top priority to filling vacancies in their police forces.

Maoist insurgency

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the State Government had sanctioned recruitment of 4,000 constables.

He said a major security threat faced by West Bengal was left wing extremism in the districts of Purulia, Paschim Medinipur and Bankura. The three border districts were the worst affected by Maoist activities.

Compared to other states, West Bengal had witnessed less violent activity from the left wing extremist (LWE) groups. However, a front organisation of the LWE activists named the Gana Pratirodh Manch had carried out propaganda against the acquisition of land at Singur and a new area of Maoist activity was discovered recently in and around Nandigram.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy said his government had taken special measures to stop youth from turning towards naxalites. He said the government had withdrawn 1,200 cases filed against ordinary citizens on the ground that they provided food and shelter to the naxalites which helped in changing the attitude of the people on the ground.

Dr. Reddy said the State had established a specialised arm “Octopus” with 1,500 personnel to keep tabs on terror-related activities. It had initiated several measures to improve general policing and drawn up plans to recruit 37,000 police personnel.

The State was not opposed to the idea of setting up a Federal Investigation Agency as it would be better equipped to tackle issues like trans-border terrorism.

Threat from poverty

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal warned of threats to peace and law and order from poverty, social inequalities and unemployment. He urged the Centre to revamp the intelligence network by giving special one-time grant, besides giving more Central funds for security. He said some extremist groups were in touch with their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Maharashtra but there were also indications of greater interaction with some Nepalese groups.

Resources sought

Stressing that insurgency grew because of underdevelopment and lack of job opportunities, Meghalaya Chief Minister D.D. Lapang urged the Centre to allocate adequate resources for infrastructure development.

He said his government had increased the allocation of funds to the police over the past years and in the current year Rs. 163 crore had been earmarked for the State police.

For policing the international and inter-State borders, the Meghalaya government had sanctioned 11 new police stations. He called for better coordination, cooperation and intelligence-sharing among the police forces of the north-east region to combat the menace of terrorism.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi called for a coherent approach and policy to deal with terrorism and said the time had come for a white paper on terrorism.

“While anti-terror mechanisms are being strengthened and terror laws are being made stringent all over the world, our country has even abolished the existing law of POTA,” he said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan called for revival of POTA.

The two Chief Ministers also called for implementation of the Malimath Committee recommendations to revamp the criminal justice system in the country.

Mr. Chouhan emphasised the need for more funds to achieve a better citizen-police ratio. He said the State had also set up a special task force to deal with the menace of naxalism and terrorism.

Ms. Raje said that Rajasthan would soon recruit 21,000 police personnel and achieve a near zero vacancy situation by June 2008. She said dedicated units had been created to tackle terrorism and other organised violence.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda urged the Centre to sanction four more battalions of India Reserve for the State.

He also called for special policing arrangements in Gurgaon, adjoining Delhi. He said recruitment for 4,576 posts of various ranks in the police was under way.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page