Jayalalithaa tears into home ministry

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In an apparent dig at home minister P. Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa has said chief ministers of states have their feet firmly planted on the ground and do not keep holding press conferences after a terrorist attack explaining the reasons for their failure.

“We are proactive and prevent such occurrences. Instead of encouraging us and providing liberal financial assistance, the home ministry wants to belittle us and treat us like pawns on a chessboard who can be moved around at will,” she said at the chief ministers meeting on NCTC, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday in New Delhi.

Terming the NCTC not only a “counter-productive idea” but also seriously violative of the Constitution, Ms Jayalalithaa asked who will be responsible for the loss of innocent lives that may occur during the course of an operation dictated by the Intelligence bureau.

“Who will answer the local people, allay their fears and soothe their feelings?” she asked. “Does the ministry of home affairs feel that their officials are more capable and more virtuous than the police personnel in the states?... Does it feel that state governments cannot be trusted with certain confidential information?”

This distrust has to be dispelled and nothing tangible can be achieved by setting up an operations division in the IB equipped with the powers of arrest and seizure, she said.

Demanding that a sub-committee of CMs be set up to go into the NCTC issue, she wanted the NCTC notice kept in abeyance till the sub-committee submits its report.

She alleged that TN was being shown “utter contempt” as the Centre did not even send it a copy of the order setting up the NCTC.

The creation of NIA, NCTC, the proposed amendments to the RPF and BSF Acts, show we are heading towards an autocracy — “government of the Centre, by the Centre, for the Centre”, she said.