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| Prakash Karat addresses the media in Guwahati on Monday. Picture by Eastern Projections |
Guwahati, Dec 16 : CPM general secretary Prakash Karat today advocated the need to tone up the nation's intelligence apparatus to prevent terror strikes like those in Mumbai and Assam.
"These terror attacks have exposed serious weaknesses in our country's intelligence network. Besides preventing recurrence of such terror strikes, the intelligence system must also be able to pinpoint the perpetrators and collect irrefutable proof in order to establish external hand(s) in these terror acts," Karat told reporters here this morning.
He, however, cautioned that it would be incorrect to draw a parallel between the bomb blasts and militant strikes in the Northeast, including Assam, with those happening in other parts of the country like Mumbai or Gujarat.
"Militancy in the northeastern states like Assam and Tripura has its own distinctive character compared to terrorism witnessed in some other parts of the country, though in both the cases there are common external links," Karat said, hinting that some neighbouring countries like Pakistan or Bangladesh are aiding anti-India groups.
The CPM general secretary was candid enough to say that they were opposed to the idea of creating a new federal investigation agency to fight terror when it was first mooted by the BJP-led NDA government regime.
"Following the recent spate of terror attacks, our party has now decided to support any move to create a new federal agency. The country needs to fight terror in a united manner," he said.
He rued that there were some political forces giving communal colour to terrorism for political mileage.
At the news conference at Guwahati Circuit House, Karat was flanked by CPM politburo member Biman Bose, state CPM secretary Hemen Das and others. Karat and Bose arrived in the city yesterday to address a public rally. Karat said the CPM was talking to different like-minded political parties to form a "third force", before the Lok Sabha elections.
He said they were also in touch will a few parties in Assam, including the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) to persuade them to join the "third force" in order to defeat the Congress and the BJP. He described the AGP's electoral understanding with the BJP in Assam as a "mistake on the part of the AGP".
For the unabated illegal influx into Assam from Bangladesh, he blamed the incomplete border fencing and inaction of New Delhi.
for the problem remaining unresolved for so long.