The Hindu : States against Central law-enforcement agency

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Sunday, Feb 09, 2003

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States against Central law-enforcement agency

By Our Special Correspondent

The Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Narendra Modi, at the Chief Ministers' Conference on Internal Security in New Delhi on Saturday. — Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

NEW DELHI FEB. 8. The States have again rejected the Government's proposal to set up a Central law-enforcement agency, as it would amount to a subversion of the federal character of the Indian state.

At the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security here today, all the State Governments, with the exception of the BJP-ruled States, declared themselves unwilling to accept a Central agency that would infringe upon the separation of powers between the Centre and the State. The general view was that the Central Bureau of Investigation served the purpose well.

On the issue of illegal immigrants and "over-stayers," most of the States were supportive of the Centre's decision to actively seek and evict illegal immigrants. Some Chief Ministers raised the issue of ``over-stayers,'' who were of Indian origin and were seeking the extension of visas or Indian citizenship.

The Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, said that such requests needed to be dealt with expeditiously. The Kerala Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, said that there was a "human dimension'' to the problem and that his Government was "evolving a political consensus on their plight and would be approaching the Centre soon.''

Many Chief Ministers spoke of the role of good governance in maintaining internal security. Mr. Antony said "I know that this is a larger issue, but it must not be forgotten while we discuss internal security and law and order. A populace which believes in democracy and trusts the Government to protect its welfare and security is the greatest bulwark against terrorism and the threats to internal security.''

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, said this rather more clearly. Calling on the Centre to open the promised dialogue with elected representatives and other sections of Kashmir, he said "it is the people who sustain militancy. Holding of dialogue coupled with good governance — addressing the causes of alienation and accelerated economic development — is the road map for the restoration of peace.''

In a speech read out by his State Home Minister, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, spoke of the importance of maintaining communal harmony. He said "the spirit of secularism and magnanimity to the minorities are the lessons of our history. Any attempt to weaken these... will have inescapable adverse repercussion not only for our social cohesiveness... but also for internal security.''

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, also touched on this subject. She said that maintaining communal harmony was the rationale behind her Government's Anti-Conversion Law.

Mr. Singh's speech was also unequivocal in its call to all communal organisations, such as SIMI and Bajrang Dal, to be dealt with under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It said "the delay in decisive action by the Government against the Bajrang Dal shall certainly convey signals inconsonant with the avowed secular credentials of the Indian state.''

The Union Home Ministry's proposal for monitoring development schemes in areas where anti-insurgency and anti-terrorist operations were under way was rejected by a majority of the States. They, however, endorsed the Centre's pilot project to introduce multi-purpose identity cards in select districts. An issue that remained unresolved was the call to ban the sale of lotteries. There were differences in approach among the State Governments, with the Punjab Chief Minister, Amrinder Singh, among those who opposed the ban because of the loss in revenue that the State would face.

Among the exceptional proposals was the one made by the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi. Despite the existence of the Intelligence Bureau, he called for the creation of an "All-India intelligence service to effectively collect and analyse intelligence within the country.''

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