Author: Chandan Nandy
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: October 1, 2001
The non-BJP governments in the states
may be ideologically opposed to the Central Government policies, but when
it comes to national security issue all are united. Significantly, several
states have joined the nationwide crackdown on SIMI activities with unusual
alacrity.
Topping the list is West Bengal,
the bastion of the Marxists.
The arrest of 35 SIMI activists
in Malda district following the ban is seen as the beginning of a new thinking
within the Left Front government in West Bengal on the issue of internal
security. All states were asked to take action against the SIMI networks
simultaneously before New Delhi actually announced the ban on Thursday
night.
The Marxists seem to have at long
last woken up to the spectre of Islamic fundamentalism and the Pakistani
ISI's activities in the state, a point that the Centre has been making
for quite some time now.
In fact, Home Ministry officials
have expressed happiness at the manner in which the state police and intelligence
machinery pursued the leads given by the Central intelligence agencies
and sealed some of the outfit's zonal offices.
The change in West Bengal's security
priorities began soon after Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee took over as Chief
Minister.
Bhattacharjee had two crucial meetings
with Home Minister L.K. Advani in which he expressed his government's willingness
to ''co-operate'' with the Centre in checking the ISI menace within the
state and the influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Earlier, the Marxist regime had
been facing flak for being soft on the ''infiltrators'' crossing over from
Bangladesh. The Centre even viewed this ''soft approach'' as an ''appeasement''
of the minority community for ''vote-bank politics''.
