Bhopal:Saturday, August 23, 2008: Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan has drawn the attention of the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh towords M.P. anti-terrorist Bill -2007 pending with the centre for approval and has urged for enactment of central anti-terrorist law on the line of POTA.
In a letter to the Prime Minister today, Shri Chouhan has expressed deep pain and anguish on recent bomb blasts in Banglore and Ahmedabad which brought death and suffering to innocent citizens showing our lack of seriousness in fighting terrorism effectively.
Shri Chouhan has said since the spread of terrorism was a serious threat to peace, unity and integrity of our country, there was urgent need to have political will and national consensus on fighting terrorism. However, the Central Government had taken a retrograde step by repealing the prevention of terrorism Act, 2002 POTA without making adequate provisions to deal with terrorism, thus leaving the States to defend themselves against the menace of terrorism with archaic and inadequate laws he added. Shri Chouhan said that even these terrorist attacks in Bangalore and Ahamedabad would have to be tried under ordinary laws.
The Chief Minister Shri Chouhan has drawn attention of the Prime Minister to the fact that the State Government had prepared the Madhya Pradesh Aatankvadi Evam Uchhedak Gatividhiyan Tatha Sangathit Apradh Niyantran Vidheyak, 2007 to deal with terrorism, organized crime and disruptive activities and had submitted this bill for prior approval of the Union Government in December 2007. However, despite reminders and earlier letter to the Prime Minister the required approval was still awaited, Shri Chouhan added. The letter mentions that anti-terror laws passed by the States of Gujarat and Rajasthan were also pending with the Union Government for approval, while MCOCA and other anti-terror laws were already in existence in States of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh etc. Therefore, long pending Bill of Madhya Pradesh need urgent consideration in wider national interest. In this context The chief Minister has also urged the Prime Minister to reconsider enactment of an anti-terrorist central law on the line of POTA.
Shri Chouhan further said the Prime Minister would agree that in a federal polity, terrorism can only be dealt with through resolute political consensus, effective collaboration and concerted efforts by the Central and the State Governments. Timely sharing and dissemination of actionable and accurate intelligence by the Central Intelligence Agencies was a sine-qua-non for effective pre-emptive strike against the terrorist groups. Therefore, there is need to upgrade and strengthen intelligence collection capabilities of the Central Intelligence Agencies besides providing financial and technical assistance for upgrading the State Intelligence Agencies. The Chief Minister also mentioned that the State Government has decided to constitute a well-equipped and specialized Anti-Terrorist Cell to deal effectively with the menace of terrorism in the State.
The Chief Minister Shri Chouhan has also requested the Prime Minister to convene at the earliest a meeting of all Chief Ministers to discuss the imminent security concerns arising from the recent terrorist incidents in Banglore and Ahmedabad.