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Wednesday, Jan 07, 2009
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Chidambaram for proactive approach

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Admitting that terrorism was, and is, the issue uppermost in the minds of the people, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday said India’s response to terrorism could not be reactive and called for a pro-active approach to thwart any possible terror threat.

Addressing a conference of Chief Ministers on internal security, Mr. Chidambaram asked the States to put in place a clear command structure in case of a terror threat or attack to avoid ambiguity or confusion about who was in charge.

“There is ample evidence that many terrorist modules have burrowed their way into the country. There are also many sleeper cells. We must adopt a pro-active approach to apprehend these people and thwart any possible threat. In this regard too, the key is gathering and sharing intelligence and responding in a coordinated manner to apprehend the potential terrorist.”

Stressing the need for accountability, Mr. Chidambaram said: “There must be no ambiguity or confusion about who is in charge; who will have overall authority over the different forces; who will deploy the forces according to the needs of the situation; and who will be held accountable for the success of the operation.”

“All aspects must be spelt out clearly and made known to the State police department as well as other forces that may be requisitioned in the case of a terrorist threat or attack,” he told the Chief Ministers.

“There must be at least one person of the rank of the head constable or an assistant sub-inspector who is exclusively charged with this [intelligence gathering] responsibility — and is burdened with no other work,” he said.

Spelling out his two goals, Mr. Chidambaram said the first was to raise the level of preparedness to meet the increasingly sophisticated terror threats and the second was to enhance the speed and decisiveness of the response to a terrorist threat or attack.

“The buck stops at CM’s desk”

PTI reports:

“We represent elected governments. The Executive, more than the other branches of the State, and more than any other agency of government is ultimately responsible to the people. In the States, the buck stops at the desk of the Chief Minister. Hence, we have called this meeting of the Chief Ministers to apply our minds to the sole issue of terrorism,” Mr. Chidamabaram said.

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