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Sikh body sends letter of dissent to Home Minister of India on NCTC issue

March 5, 2012 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau

Amritsar (March 05, 2012): According to a communication sent by Dal Khalsa to “Sikh Siyasat” on February 27, 2012: reiterating its determination to uphold its right to dissent and disagree, the Dal Khalsa has written a letter to Government of India expressing its opposition to the proposal of setting up of new body named National Counter-terrorism centre (NCTC) without prior consultations with not only states but also with representatives of ethnic minority communities, democratic and civil liberty organisations.

In a communiqué to Home Minister P Chidambram, the organization has apprehended that just as draconian laws were (mis)used to crush dissent, now the wide powers to NCTC will be used to stifle the voice of those who question the bonafide of the Indian state.

Party’s political secretary Kanwar Pal Singh said the proposal to set up the NCTC as a superior organisation of security and intelligence bodies was fraught with danger. As we have suffered in Punjab, such dangers are galore.

He said the resolution of political conflicts cannot be a law and order issue. From Kashmir to Punjab to the North-East, India has countered “terrorism” purely as a law enforcement issue and not seen it in the realm of conflict resolution within the parameters of human rights obligations.

The letter faxed to Home Minister further states that many countries of the world are chasing global peace as a law and order issue without addressing sociological and political issues. India has had a poor perspective of the regional peace issues in the sub-continent. It continues to have a flawed and non-functioning federal structure.

Adding new dimension to the on-going row, he pointed out that India has a string of security and intelligence agencies, which enjoy full impunity. These agencies are beyond a parliamentary review. These agencies function as if they are above the law of the land. Parliamentary review of the work of intelligence agencies is a democratic norm which India continues to avoid steadfastly. The letter further reads, “Instead of going for the creation of a new “anti-terror super body”, UPA government should evolve methodologies for peaceful conflict resolution thereby removing the very cause for violence as well as making the existing security and intelligence agencies accountable to people and the Parliament”.

While we welcome the response of states, the letter points that this response is based on party considerations.

Kanwar Pal Singh while talking with media said “States with non-Congress governments are opposing the proposal while Congress govts’ are blindly welcoming it, without realizing that once the intelligence and security agencies get powers and impunity from accountability, they turn uncontrollable Frankenstein monsters”.

While the Indian Union government is understandably concerned about the War on Terror, the Sikhs, Kashmiris and other nationalities are concerned about how to fight the ‘War of Errors’ of the Indian state.

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Related Topics: Dal Khalsa, Indian State, NCTC

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