Shinde renews debate on National anti-terror body

The Centre’s intention to pursue the formation of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in the wake of the Hyderabad blasts is facing resistance from Opposition parties.

A day after Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said the Centre had to set up NCTC, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said it would oppose the move to give policing powers to NCTC as the fight against terrorism could and must co-exist with federalism.

Shinde, in an effort to reach out to various political parties, had also claimed the support of the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, for setting up NCTC. The Government dropped the plan from the NCTC as its former ally, Trinamool Congress, and the Opposition parties opposed it citing the “anti-federal” characteristics of the proposed anti-terrorism wing.

Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said the Centre should employ the intelligence agencies to counter terrorism rather than use them for quasi-political jobs.

“The war against terror must be uninterrupted – it should be uninterruptable,” Jaitley said in an article that appeared on the BJP’s Web site.

He said when the erstwhile National Democratic Alliance Government enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), the Congress opposed it as being anti-minority and not anti-terrorism. He said the UPA’s decision to repeal the POTA was criticised by both the BJP and the security agencies.

“There could be no possible objection to a National Terrorism Counter Centre but its powers and jurisdictions must be within the Constitutional framework,” Jaitley said.

> jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in

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