In the worst-ever terrorist attack on the country on November 26, it became clear that no lessons were learnt from the past.
In the worst-ever terrorist attack on the country on November 26, it became clear that no lessons were learnt from the past. Eleven years ago, even the supreme court had expressed apprehensions about various terrorist attacks in the country.
“Terrorism is posing a serious threat to the unity and integrity of the nation,” the apex court had observed, emphasising the need for accountability and transparency in the central investigating agencies, such as the CBI.
In the aftermath of the Mumbai mayhem, the functioning of other agencies, such as the Intelligence Bureau (IB), is also exposed. The IB is not accountable to parliament. Only the Union government has access to its inputs. It has become evident in the past few years that the government sits over the IB reports until the vital information is leaked to
the media after a bloody tragedy strikes the country and the blame game begins.
Various committees set up by the government in the past also suggested that a national team to combat terrorism and organised crimes in India must be formed. But the government remained indifferent to the suggestion and the country suffered major terrorist attacks in the past four years.
Concerned over the government’s inertia in combating terror, lawyer Abani K Sahu moved the apex court and urged it to remind the government that it had yet not acted on its directions to set up a nodal agency for such offences. But Sahu was told to approach the appropriate government authority.
Sahu then wrote to the Union government on September 18 last asking for setting up a national agency, permitted to operate within the constitutional framework. His petition also suggested that the government should constitute a special team of officers from various existing investigating agencies in the country. As usual, the government did not bother to reply. And then came the Mumbai attacks, which showed that the country needs a national probe agency on the lines of the Serious Organised Crime Agency in the UK. Let’s hope the supreme court pays heed to the plea this time.
b_rakesh@dnaindia.net
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