National Counter Terrorism Centre
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The National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) was a proposed federal anti-terror agency to be created in India, modelled on the National Counterterrorism Center of the US. The proposal arose after the 2008 Mumbai attacks a.k.a. 26/11 attacks where several intelligence and operational failures revealed the need for a federal agency with real time intelligence inputs of actionable value specifically to counter terrorist acts against India. The proposal has however met with much criticism from the Chief Ministers of various states who saw it as a means of weakening India's federalism, So finally the proposal was discarded saying already exists coordinating mechanisms in the system and government denied the need of NCTC.[1]
Background
The
It was in this context that the NCTC was mooted as an apex body, a single and effective point of control for all counter terrorism measures. The NCTC is modelled on the American NCTC and the British Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre. The model for India was mooted by the then Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, who along with the then National Security Adviser,
Structure and functions
The NCTC will derive its powers from the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967. It is to be a part of the Intelligence Bureau and will be headed by a Director who will report to the Director IB and the Home Secretary. But the modified original draft of NCTC says that this system does not come under purview of Intelligence Beaureu and states are taken into confidence before the centre carries on any operation in their territories. The NCTC will execute counter-terror operations and collect, collate and disseminate data on terrorism besides maintaining a data base on terrorists and their associates. It would have also been granted powers to conduct searches and arrests in any part of India and formulate responses to terror threats.[1][4]
Opposition
Unlike the American NCTC which deals only with strategic planning and integration of intelligence without any operational involvement or the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which too plays a purely coordinating role, the Indian agency will have not only intelligence functions but also powers to conduct operations. It is this concentration of powers that has had the states objecting to the NCTC, arguing that such sweeping powers vested in a Central agency will violate the autonomy of state governments, given that law and order is a
It is also argued that the nature of US and Indian federal structures differ vastly and hence suitable amendments are needed for the agency to be effective while guaranteeing the constitutional rights of the states. Some strategic experts like B.Raman of the
The initial opposition to the NCTC also focused on how the agency had been empowered to search and arrest people without keeping the state government, police or anti-terror squad in the loop. The Centre even mooted that the
See also
References
- ^ a b "10 big facts on Centre vs state over NCTC, new anti-terror agency". NDTV.
- ^ "Mumbai attack: failures of command". The Hindu. January 22, 2010.
- ^ a b "What's the fuss on NCTC". The Sunday Guardian. 17 February 2012.
- ^ "What the NCTC is all about". CNN-IBN. May 5, 2012. Archived from the original on May 7, 2012.
- ^ "Put NCTC on hold: Jayalalithaa". The Times of India. 2012-04-02. Archived from the original on 2012-07-07.
- ^ "India does not need NCTC". The Pioneer. 2 May 2012.
- ^ "The PM in New York - Analysis - DNA". Dnaindia.com. 2005-09-11. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
- ^ a b "NCTC 2.0: Big changes to anti-terror agency". 13 July 2012.