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Manmohan: we need to strengthen anti-terror laws

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday hit out at the role of Pakistan-based terrorist groups in the recent serial bomb blasts, but said the involvement of local elements added a new dimension to the terrorist threat.

“We have reports that certain Pakistan-based terrorists outfits are constantly seeking to set up new terrorist modules within our country. This is a matter of utmost concern. We have increased vigilance on our borders … But in view of the growing involvement of local elements, this is not enough,” he said.

Favouring further strengthening of anti-terror laws, Dr. Singh noted that security and intelligence agencies had been successful in thwarting and pre-empting several terrorist attacks. “But as the recent blasts in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Surat and Delhi indicate, there are still vast gaps in intelligence. These need to be overcome,” he said.

The Prime Minister, addressing the Governors’ Conference on its concluding day, focussed on Left wing extremism, terrorism and his government’s approach towards tackling the menace.

The theme of internal security and terrorism also figured prominently in President Pratibha Patil’s inaugural address on Tuesday. She voiced concern at the emerging “metro-terrorism” and favoured firm action against those who followed the path and culture of guns.

Emphasising that there was no question of the government being soft on terrorism, Dr. Singh said the “issue is really one of examining the efficacy of the totality of the systems and the mechanisms that we have, to deal with terrorist incidents.”

He said it was unfortunate that the public debate on terrorism tended to get driven by politics and centred on certain laws enacted or repealed by governments of different political persuasions. “Our government has no fixed, inflexible, or ideological view in this regard,” Dr. Singh said.

He said the government was actively considering legislation to further strengthen the substantive anti-terrorism law in line with the global consensus on the fight against terrorism.

Referring to the demand for creating a federal agency to probe all terrorist incidents, Dr. Singh suggested that it need not necessarily be a federal investigating agency but could be a Central agency which could assist the States in investigation whenever a major terrorist incident took place.

The Prime Minister stressed the need for ensuring better coordination and integration among the existing agencies for devising an effective counter-terrorism strategy. Most important, he said, was closer cooperation between the Centre and the States and among the States themselves.

“This is particularly important today as there is a common strand running through each of the major terrorist incidents,” he added.

Both the President and the Prime Minister wanted the Governors to play “pro-active” role as Chancellors of State Universities. Dr. Singh urged them to advise their Chief Ministers on the importance of streamlining the Public Distribution System (PDS).

Expressing concern over maintenance of social peace, Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari asked the Governors to devote effort for the well-being of all sections of the public, particularly the weaker sections and the minorities. “Communalism of various hues is threatening the already fragile social fabric. Any selectivity in tackling it would be detrimental to the constitutional principles of equality and secularism,” the Vice-President said.

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