Indian PM pitches for anti-terror federal agency-India-The Times of India

PM pitches for anti-terror federal agency-India-The Times of India

PM pitches for anti-terror federal agency
18 May 2008, 1252 hrs IST,Dhananjay Mahapatra,TNN

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday made a strong pitch for a federal agency to deal with terrorist crimes against India, on the same day that Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan called for special anti-terror laws.

Conceding that the Jaipur blasts could hamper normalisation of India’s relations with Pakistan, the PM — on his way back from Bhutan — argued for a federal probe agency to investigate acts of terrorism and other crimes with inter-state ramifications.

Talking to media at Bagdogra, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh justified the demand to classify terrorism related crimes as federal crimes and set up a federal investigation bureau fully equipped to deal with it.

"There is a case in such demands. This matter has been discussed several times in the inter-state councils. We should explore all possibilities for recognising crimes like terrorism, white collar crimes and human trafficking as federal crimes and setting up a federal agency which is fully equipped to discharge the onerous function of dealing with it," he told reporters after winding up his two-day official visit to Bhutan and during a re-fuelling stopover. PM’s support for the federal agency came when Congress has become more vocal in stating the need for one.

Singh also spoke of the chief stumbling block — states being chary of losing their exclusive control over "law and order" issues. States are reluctant to cooperate in surrendering power. He, however, made clear that he was not ready to engage in a blame game." I am not apportioning blame. The Centre and the states have a common problem at hand and hence should work together to deal with the issue," he said.

Chief Justice Balakrishnan repeated his backing for the demand for a federal anti-terror law. Speaking at a Seminar in the capital, he said he would favour an all-India anti-terror law, while acknowledging that the matter did not fall within his domain. Speaking to media at Bagdogra, Singh also said that the terrorist violence should not come in the way of efforts to normalise ties with Pakistan.

Saying that terrorists could be seeking to disrupt the talks with Pakistan, Singh said: "There is no doubt that terrorist elements have many objectives to disturb the atmosphere of communal harmony in our country, create communal disturbances and to prevent normalisation of relations with Pakistan. We have to be mindful of these nefarious designs and we are adopting effective counter-strategies."

He also spoke against the politicisation of terror. "This is not a matter that should divide political parties. All parties — Congress, BJP and other political parties — have an obligation not to politicise human miseries inflicted by terrorists. They should put their heads together and pool wisdom to deal with the issue," he said.

The Prime Minister also defended intelligence agencies under attack for their alleged failure to foil the terror attacks. "I would not say India’s intelligence network has weakened. Terrorism poses new challenges, Techniques of terror has miniatured and the terrorists are becoming more and more bold having the advantage of springing surprises."

He agreed that with effective intelligence terrorist attacks could be minimised, but firmly stood behind the security and intelligence agencies saying their good work in averting serious human tragedies almost always goes unnoticed.