Don’t politicise anti-terror hub issue: Ambika Soni

Defending the government’s proposed powerful counter-terror intelligence hub, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni Saturday said the matter should not be “politicised”.

“There have been discussions not once but many times in the country whenever innocent people became victims of terrorist attack and everyone has said there should be no room for politics in such issue,” Soni told reporters.

Her response came a day after seven chief ministers strongly protested the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).

“I think everyone should emphasize that such matters should not be politicised,” Soni added.

“Moreover, it has been made clear that the proposal laid out or announced by home minister (P.Chidambaram) doesn’t talk about making amendments in any existing law,” she added.

“In my understanding, it’s an administrative decision. And I don’t think that the central government in any way wants to interfere in the federal system or weaken it. I think the chief ministers also know that (Prime Minister) Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government would not want to do this,” Soni clarified.

The powerful anti-terror agency, a brainchild of Chidambaram, will integrate and analyse inputs on terror threats in India. It becomes functional March 1.

It allows central government agencies to make arrests or searches in terrorism-hit states without seeking permission from their governments.

But the issue snowballed into a major controversy as non-Congress ruled states came together to protest the move. They have alleged that the central government did not consult them before deciding to set up the agency.