Counter terror body: Naveen Patnaik intensifies attack on government

Bhubaneswar : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday hit out at the central government for keeping “the states in the dark” over the just approved anti-terror intelligence hub and said states would not tolerate the centre’s “authoritarian” order on their powers.

Patnaik said the state governments would not tolerate the centre’s “draconian” order on the powers given to the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).

Citing a recent memorandum of the union home ministry regarding the hub, Patnaik had Feb 13 written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking a review of the matter.

Patnaik had also discussed the matter with the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal J. Jayalalithaa, and Mamata Banerjee respectively and had asked them to register their protest.

He had also discussed the matter with former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and sought his support in the protest.

While Banerjee and Jayalalithaa had already expressed their support to Patnaik and sent separate letters to the prime minister, the protest appears to have gained strength further with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also raising his concerns.

Patnaik’s campaign got a boost when TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu Friday wrote to the prime minister opposing the “sweeping powers” vested in the anti-terror intelligence hub.

“It is quite inexplicable that such an important order, having ramifications over centre-state relations has been issued without consulting the state governments and political parties,” Naidu said in his letter to the prime minister.

The letter, a copy of which was circulated here by Naveen Patnaik’s office, also asked the central government to initiate a debate with political parties and state governments along with a debate in parliament.

The powerful agency, a brainchild of Home Minister P. Chidambaram, will integrate and analyse inputs on terror threats in India. It will derive its powers from the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act that allows the central government agencies to make arrests or searches in terror-related cases.

While the agency will keep state police in the loop, it need not seek permission from state governments before launching any operation.