New Delhi: With Mumbai facing several terror
attacks at regular intervals, Maharashtra today said there is
a "genuine expectation" that effective measures should be
taken to bring the perpetrators of such incidents to justice.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said in view of trans-
national network of terrorists, it is imperative for the Union
and State governments to work closely together to meet this
challenge.
Addressing the National Integration Council meeting here,
he said measures to strengthen and modernise the police
forces, enhance their investigation skills, and sharpen and
share intelligence are imminent requirement.
"We have taken several such measures particularly post
26/11. We have recruited more than 44,000 officers and
policemen during the last three years and have set specialised
combat units to handle terror attacks and jungle warfare," he
said.
Chavan said the government was upgrading surveillance
based on modern technology and stressed that administration of
criminal justice also needs basic reforms to ensure speedy
trial and punishment within a definite time frame.
The Chief Minister also said the governments should look
at a comprehensive rehabilitation package for the families of
innocent victims of terrorism.
"Many a times, innocent citizens become victims of
communal violence or law and order situations arising out of
civil disturbances. The state government is considering a
`Victim Compensation Scheme` to extend help to unfortunate
victims of public violence," he said.
Chavan said a Centrally-sponsored scheme with state
participation would be useful in providing relief to the
affected families.
Chavan said the recent trend in the country, including in
his state, indicates that more than communalism, skewed
development and inequitable distribution of resources and
feeling of exclusion lead to social conflicts and civil
disturbances.
Noting that growing concern for environmental and natural
resources is also triggering discontent, he said such
agitations flare up into violent civil disturbances and pose
complex problems to the law enforcing authorities.
"It is important to understand the genesis of such
agitations in the larger socio economic perspective. At the
state time it is necessary to create awareness that blocking
of roads, expressways and railways, however peaceful, impinges
on the fundamental right of the citizens to free movement."
It becomes the sovereign duty of the state and police to
clear such blockades, he said, calling for an all-party
consensus on the issue.
The Chief Minister said while combating the menace of
terrorism with the use of modern weapons and technology is an
imperative, it is "equally important" to analyse and
appreciate the socio-economic drivers underlying the acts of
terrorism and evolve a strategy accordingly.
PTI
