The Commission on Centre-State Relations was eliciting views from states and examining whether they required separate laws to tackle terror.
SHILLONG: The Commission on Centre-State Relations was eliciting views from states and examining whether they required separate laws to tackle terror, its member and former home secretary V K Duggal said on Wednesday.
Amid allegations that the existing laws have failed to check terrorism in the country, Duggal told reporters after a northeast-level meet on criminal justice, national security and Centre-state cooperation, "We are taking views from the state on whether there was a need for separate laws in the state to tackle terror or a common law would suffice."
"The views would be compiled and then recommendations made to the Centre," Duggal said refusing to divulge the suggestions from the state governments.
Representatives from all the northeastern states, security officials, NGOs, autonomous bodies and domain experts participated in the two-day meet that ended on Wednesday.
On the security front, Duggal said, "the internal security in the region needs to be bettered."
Meghalaya Chief Minister Donkupar Roy said the present security scenario in the country, particularly in the region, needs to be strengthened.
"There is a need for a dedicated intelligence gathering system with experts on subjects like terrorism, insurgency and fundamentalism," he said.
"Since most of the northeastern states do not have adequate police training facilities, there is a need for a National Security Organisation to impart training to the officers," Roy felt.
Saying that the real key to effective criminal justice reforms lies not so much in making sweeping changes of the law, but in the manner in which the system is administered, the Chief Minister said there is a need to build a appropriate checks and balances in anti-terror laws.
"There is a dire need for a paradigm shift from accused-oriented to victim-oriented criminal justice system with adequate protection of the right of the accused," he said.
State Planning Board chairman PA Sangma underlined the need to curb influx into the region to improve the internal security.
Pointing at the unabated illegal infiltration into the region from Bangladesh, Sangma regretted the inability of the states to detect and deport the immigrants.
He also warned that climate change could see more immigrants pouring into the region, thus endangering the internal security.
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