Chennai:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in a strongly-worded letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked him to keep the National Counter Terrorism Centre in abeyance and has urged him to convene a meeting of chief ministers of various states to discuss the matter.
Read the complete letter below:
Letter dated 2.4.2012 addressed by Selvi J Jayalalithaa, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to Dr.Manmohan Singh, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India is reproduced below :-
"Please recall my earlier letter conveying my strong objections to certain provisions of the Office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding the proposed formation and functioning of the National Counter Terrorism Centre and the manner in which the NCTC was sought to be constituted without consulting the State Governments. Many other Chief Ministers have also conveyed similar views in their communications to you.
Consequently, a meeting was convened by the Union Home Secretary with the Chief Secretaries/ Home Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of all the States on the 12th March, 2012. In spite of our reservations on the subject, I requested my officers to attend the meeting. At that meeting, several States registered their strong objections and even Congress ruled States clearly stated that the NCTC in its present proposed form cannot be carried forward. I am also informed that, in response to a query at the meeting by one of the States, the Union Home Secretary clarified that the NCTC Office Memorandum had not been withdrawn and that, therefore, this is deemed to have come into effect from 1st March, 2012.
It is surprising that, against this background, a meeting of Chief Ministers has been convened on the 16th of April 2012, to discuss various matters relating to Internal Security. Among those issues listed for discussion, the subject of NCTC also figures as one of the items. It is indeed unfortunate that, without taking into consideration the views and sentiments of various State Chief Ministers, the constitution of the NCTC is sought to be steamrolled into existence.
At this juncture, I request that the formation of the NCTC may first be ordered to be held in abeyance and a separate meeting of Chief Ministers may be convened only to discuss this matter.
The views of various Chief Ministers will have to be given due consideration and a purposeful discussion on counter terrorism should be made possible. I request an early reply in this matter."