Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra
Modi on Friday joined the chorus opposing the Centre`s order on
National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), saying it was an
attempt to snatch the powers of the states and asked the Prime
Minister to immediately withdraw it.
"The National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) order by
the central government is totally against the federal
structure of the country," Modi wrote in a letter to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh.
He claimed that states were not consulted over the issue.
"For fighting terrorism and Naxalism, the Centre instead
of consulting the states, with this order is trying to snatch
their powers granted by the Constitution. This notification
should be immediately withdrawn," he wrote.
Modi`s letter comes in the wake of opposition to NCTC by
Chief Ministers of several states like Odhisa, West Bengal,
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, who have claimed that it
will infringe on the rights of the states on issues of law
and order.
The Gujarat Chief Minister, in his letter, highlighted
several points which he felt were against the federal
structure of the state.
"Under the Constitution, law and order has been put under
the state subject. However, the February 3 office memorandum
of the Central Home Ministry has put all the intelligence
agencies under NCTC. As per this notification, all
intelligence agencies of the state as well as central agencies
and India`s external agencies will have to work under the
NCTC," he said in the letter.
"The NCTC has also been given the right to carry out
arrests and searches at any place in the country under the
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act," Modi said.
"The Centre has not even bothered to consult the states
before issuing such an order which in itself is contrary to
the federal principals on which the country is governed," he
said.
PTI
