Nitish writes to PM listing reservations on NCTC

Barely 48 hours after Union Home Minister P Chidambaram struck a reconciliatory note on the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has written a protest letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, questioning the need to create NCTC with arbitrary powers.

“While creation of a strong mechanism to counter terrorism is the need of the hour, would it not be better to consult state governments and take their views which would contribute to the improved design and structure of the new establishment,” Nitish said.

Nitish, along with Naveen Patnaik, Jayalalitha, Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee, had been vociferously opposing the creation of NCTC. Taking note of the opposition by the group of these chief ministers, Chidambaram on Saturday, said: “I have a responsibility to work with the states to quell terror, militancy and rebellion.”

“Don’t you think that since ‘police’ and ‘law and order’ are state subjects, any action involving arrest, search and seizure should be taken only with the active involvement of the state government,” Nitish said in the letter.