Without making any reference to the NCTC debate, Union home minister P. Chidambaram, in his address at the inaugural programme of the National Security Guard (NSG) hub at Badu, 50 km from Kolkata, on Saturday said, “Internal security is a very complex issue.
The security of the country is a shared responsibility. It is a responsibility that is shared by the central government and state governments.” This was perhaps his gentle message to Ms Banerjee, who has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding the withdrawal of the NCTC because she felt that it infringed upon the rights of the state.
Mr Chidambaram pointed out that the Indian Constitution, which assigned law and order and police to the state governments, has also assigned to the Centre the responsibility of protecting every part of India from external aggression and internal disturbances under Article 355 of the Constitution.
To reach out to the chief ministers of non-Congress ruled states who had opposed the NCTC in one voice, the Union home minister said that the Centre was working with the governments of different political parties and making no distinction among them.
Mentioning the names of Maoist-affected states of Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jangalmahal in West Bengal, Mr Chidambaram said, “These states are not ruled by the Congress party which I belong to. But as a member of the Central government I have a responsibility to work with state governments, give them all assistance they require so that they can maintain law and order and quell any militancy or rebellion.”
In an apparent bid to placate the Bengal chief minister, Mr Chidambaram lauded her government’s role in substantially controlling the Maoist menace in Jangalmahal. “Working together I can assure my colleague (Union minister of state for shipping) Mukul Roy and (Jyotipriyo) Mullick that we will fully put down the Naxal problem,” he said.