Punjab CM opposes NCTC

Chandigarh, Feb 17 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today vehemently opposed the Centre's decision to set up an apex counter-terror organization, terming it as a measure to usurp whatever is left of the states' authority in matters of governance. "This (the decision to set up NCTC) runs counter to the spirit of federal principle which is the dominant sentiment of all states and the people all over the country. We cannot accept this measure," said Badal in a statement. Badal and his Deputy Chief Minister son Sukhbir Singh Badal would take up the matter with other state governments and all like minded parties in the country to build a national consensus against the Centre's decision when they return from abroad, the CM's media advisor Haracharan Bains said releasing the statement on his behalf. In his statement, the Chief Minister, who is on a week long tour abroad, said that the move is patently ill advised, ill conceived and clearly unwise. "The state governments are much better equipped to deal with terrorism, both in terms of ground level intelligence gathering apparatus and fighting capacity of their security forces," he said. "Past record shows that the central agencies have failed to deal with terrorism as effectively as expected. We need strong ground level response to the problem and only the state governments can ensure that. But the centre wants to deal with it in a remote control fashion, which is hard to understand," Badal said and vowed to oppose the measure "tooth and nail". "We will fight it tooth and nail along with other states which share our perception," he said.