Terrorists Edge Comes From Governments' Divisiveness: CJI

New Delhi, May 17 (UNI) The imperative of swift justice, competent governance and democratic legitimacy was underscored as India's Chief Justice warned today that terrorist organisations were taking advantage of the world community's failure to respond as one.

''Since terrorism is a global phenomenon,'' Justice K G Balakrishnan pointed out at the annual seminar on Arbitration and Internationl Standards for Contract Law and Legal Aspects Terrorism, ''responses to terrorism must also be global.'' Speaking as residents of Jaipur recover from a deadly terrorist attack this week, Justice Balakrishnan pointed out that the international community does not even agree on how to define terrorism, let alone have ''a coordinated, effective counter-terrorism strategy among nations.'' Even the United Nations Security Council resolutions adopted in the wake of the 9/11 attacks did ''without a proper definition'' of terrorism, he recalled.

This state has encouraged authorities to define terrorism in municipal legislations, encouraging ''wide and divergent definitions,'' and bringing home a recognition that any measures without a binding definition would not be effective.

He cited observations made by India's 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission that such threats to national security need to be addressed through ''concerted and consistent state action, backed by swift justice, by competent governance and democratic legitimacy.'' The CJI's remarks coincided with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's reported suggestion to think in terms of a federal agency to investigate terrorist attacks and other offences with inter-state ramifications.

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