November 17, 2001

'5'

PRESS BRIEF ON CHIEF MINISTERS’ CONFERENCE ON INTERNAL SECURITY

      The second Conference of the Chief Ministers on Internal Security was held at Vigyan Bhavan here today. The Conference was presided over by the Prime Minister.

        In his opening remarks, the Home Minister welcomed the Prime Minister, his Cabinet colleagues, Chief Ministers and other participants. He pointed out that this Conference was being held at a time when the entire global context was undergoing a change. He recalled that India had been trying to sensitise world opinion against the dangers of terrorism, we had also achieved some success in this – Joint Working Groups had been constituted with USA, UK and a number of other countries. However, it was only after the terrorists attacks of the 11^th September that the world woke up to the real dangers of international terrorism and the international community started taking measures to counter this menace. The Home Minister referred to criticism of some of the provisions of POTO. He pointed out that the law had been drawn up in consultation with the Law Commission; views of all the State Governments were solicited on the draft Legislation and the provisions of similar legislations in other democracies were kept in mind. A number of safeguards against possible misuse of this Act were built in. The UN Resolution 1373 mandated follow up legislation to give effect to the provisions of the Resolution and some provisions of this law were in part implementation of the UN Resolution. The Home Minister also recalled that in most internal security conferences in the past two years, there had been a consistent view that a new anti-terrorism law was necessary.

        The Home Minister’s address was followed by a presentation on the Internal Security situation. The dimensions of terrorism and its impact on social, economic political and administrative aspects were analysed in the presentation. The presentation highlighted the attempts by a neighbouring country to exploit possible religious, political and ethnic fault lines and the limitations of the current legal framework in tackling terrorism. It was also brought out with specific examples that ISI/Terrorists Cells with wide networks had been detected in a number of States.

        In his address, the Prime Minister referred to the fact that India had been coping single handedly with the menace of terrorism for more than a decade. It had been trying to sensitize the international community to the fact that terrorism and religious extremism were a potent threat to peace and the civilised world. He recalled that infact in his address to the US Congress last year he had pointed out that distance offered no immunity against this danger. Now an international resolve has emerged to fight against this menace. India supported the operations against Taliban not only because it backs this resolve, but also because its own national interests are involved in the dismantling of the Al-Qaeda network.

        The Prime Minister stated that during his recent visit to Russia, UK and USA, he found that India’s principled stand on terrorism was appreciated by the leadership of these countries. This has also been evident from his interaction with other international leaders visiting Delhi. Today more than ever before, the international community appreciated the correctness of India’s stand on the Kashmir issue. It has also been accepted that terrorism cannot be justified in any form and also that there cannot be any compartmentalization in the fight against terrorism. The Prime Minister noted that the situation in Jammu & Kashmir was showing signs of improvement. He complemented the Chief Minister of J&K, his Cabinet colleagues and the legislators for leading the fight against terrorism.

        The Prime Minister noted that in the North-East our attempts at dialogue had been moving on promising lines. What was necessary was rapid and all round development of the region. He noted that for this purpose it has been decided to create a Department of North-East Development. He requested the Chief Ministers of the North-Eastern States to effectively implement the development programmes.

        The Prime Minister noted that in this country there had been a general consensus on foreign policy issues from the days of Independence. The time has come when our internal security strategy is also supported by a similar consensus.

        The Prime Minister drew the attention of the Chief Minister to the fact that conspiracies for terrorist action spread across a number of States. There was, therefore, a need for close cooperation between intelligence agencies of the States amongst themselves and with Central agencies. He pointed out that the Union Government had given a substantial sum of money for the modernisation of the State police forces and it was incumbent upon the States to utilize this amount effectively for upgrading the State police forces.

        The Prime Minister noted that a major difficulty in Internal Security management has been the enormous delays in trials because of the huge pendencies in our judicial system. Because of this appropriate punishment was not visited upon criminals who were thus free to commit further crimes with impunity. This had led to an erosion in the people’s faith in the rule of law. This needed to be addressed quickly.

        During the discussions which followed the Law Minister succinctly clarified misconceptions regarding some of the provisions in the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance. Most Chief Ministers were in favour of an anti-terrorism law. Some Chief Ministers while accepting the need for anti-terrorism legislation felt that the Government should have brought this law after prior consultation with all parties. It was pointed out that the Legislation had been discussed in the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs and it will also be discussed with the opposition parties and the suggestions given will be kept in mind when bringing the legislation before Parliament.

        The salient recommendations of the Group of Ministers on Internal Security which required action by the States were discussed. There was general consensus on the implementation of the recommendations.

        A note was taken of the growing spread of organised crime and the linkages it had developed with terrorism. The need for States to enact special legislation on the lines of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) was accepted. Many States have already enacted such legislations.

        Management of the land borders and the sea coasts was given a special focus. The border States were advised to strengthen/increase the police stations/police outposts in the border areas. Additional specific steps to ensure that foreign agents/anti-national elements/illegal immigrants do not manage to cross over easily to India were discussed in detail. Steps for enhancing the security along the coast line were also discussed.

        The Central government emphasised the need for detection and deportation of illegal immigrants. The need for ensuring that illegal immigrants/foreign agencies do not get proofs of identity was also emphasised. Some States called for a quick implementation of the national identity card scheme in this context.

        There was a consensus on the need to improve Governance. The Central Government emphasised the need for increased transparency in administration and setting up of Establishment Boards in this context. The delivery system must ensure that the services which it seeks to provide must reach the people with the minimum of delay and pilferages.

        All the States requested for an increase in the Central assistance for the modernization of States Police forces. The Home Minister pointed out that this Government had raised the outlay from Rs. 50 crore per year to Rs. 200 crore per year and at the last year’s Conference, the provision was raised to Rs. 1000 crore per year. He pointed out that the scheme in its present form had been in operation for only one year. The scheme will be reviewed next year at which time the difficulties, constraints and suggestions of the States will be kept in view.

        Summing up the discussions, the Home Minister thanked the Chief Ministers for their constructive suggestions and the concern and the commitment they brought to the deliberations. He noted that as a result of the deliberations, common perspectives had emerged on the challenges facing the country and the Home Ministry will work closely with the States in the days ahead.