India needs stringent laws to encounter terrorism

Considering the approaching Independence Day and the increasing number of terrorist attacks, security has been beefed up all over the country, particularly in major towns which have always been on top of the militants' hit-list, followed by a number of consecutive bomb explosions in two states that rocked the entire country on Friday and Saturday.

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State Governments have been said to be alert and augment the espionage system in the entire State. The alert by the Centre had been issued on Friday soon after the Bangalore blasts, but despite that, within 24 hrs second serial blasts, this time in Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat, a more powerful and highly intensified one, stunned the entire country. People already in the pool of shock after the IT hub, Bangalore blasts, sunk deeply into it.

Intentionally or co-incidentally, all the three blasts--Jaipur (May 13, dead 63, injured 213), Bangalore (July 25, dead about 2, injured few) and Ahmedabad (July 26, killed 45, wounded 162--number of dead persons could be increased as several injured are in critical conditions)--occurred in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states. This is, indeed, no time for making allegations and counter-allegations, but to deal the situation with utmost seriousness as the governments are doing.

Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat has been firebrand of Hindu politics and a controversial politician once was accused by human rights for sheltering terrorism against Muslims in Gujarat after the Godhra incident during which, in a month-long carnage, over 2,500 people were killed by rampaging Hindu mobs.

To prevent further such heinous attempt in the communal sensitive Ahmedabad, Centre has been keeping hawk's eye on the development of the state, and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, and the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi are visiting Gujarat today to gauge the on-the-spot situation. The Centre is making all out efforts to control the situation and not let it go out from hands.

What is being done by the political leaders is the need of the time. But, once again the consecutive serial blasts in an organised manner has unveiled the severe condition of law and order situation in India and pointed out the laxity on the part of the national security agencies.

The plan to implement federal agency as in United States is once again ticking at the doorsteps. The concept was conceived by former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advni, adopted by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, but, at the end aborted by the States on the fear of losing power. The serial blasts have again brought the necessity of federal like agency in India. The Centre announced on Sunday to convene a string of meetings with chief ministers, police chiefs and chief secretaries as soon as possible.

The federal like agency is also essential for successfully countering the orchestrated terror strikes by militant groups as information and outcome of investigations are rarely shared by police of different states.

Apart from federal agency, POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) or like organised crime law to tackle the organised crime, as MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) in Maharashtra seriously needs to be implemented taking care that such a law must not be violated. Stringent law in itself is not sufficient to tackle terrorist attack. To make country terror free, the Central Government should make its espionage system and the Security Agencies concrete.