Releasing the booklet entitled "Protecting India from Terror-The Congress Party's Pledge" outlining his party's "comprehensive action plan" to tackle terrorism, on 7April 2009, Home Minister P. Chidambaram declared that "It is only the Indian National Congress that can deal with the scourge of terrorism squarely and decisively but without weakening the delicate strands that have, together, bound our society for centuries .... The Congress party is committed to provide strong and decisive leadership to meet the challenge of terrorism. This is our pledge to the people of India."

 The action plan enumerates five tenets the party has formulated as part of its strategy to counter terror including capable and equipped human assets, actionable intelligence and cutting-edge analytics, empowered and coordinated security agencies, decisive response to threats and attacks and strong and speedy investigation and prosecution. Among the major steps the party promises to take, if voted to power, are the following;--

(i) Setting up a permanent crisis management group or war room which will provide war room-style operational oversight and control during terror threats or events, and function as a 24-hour watch-post/monitoring centre. The war room would be "headed by a cabinet secretary and it will have representatives from the armed forces, at least from its intelligence wing"

(ii) Establishing a judicial task force to fast track trials "to ensure that national security and terror-related cases are tried and completed within 90 days".

Last update : 05-05-2009 00:14

Keywords : Protecting India from Terror, Jai Prakash Sharma, Congress

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