COMMENT Historically, the National Security Council (NSC) was set up after the incident of May 13, 1969, by the cabinet on July 7, 1971. Since its inception, the NSC’s main task was to deal with issues stemming from racial issues instead of external ones.

A statement on the NSC portal reads : “Since the future racial peace in this country depends on how well the government handles the sensitive issues, it is suggested that the NSC shall be the body to look into the matter”.

Unlike other security authorities, the NSC is not a statutory body and does not possess any lawful enforcement and executive powers, as well as not subject to parliamentary review. Born out of a need to deal with rising security threats, the government hastily tabled the bill to ‘institutionalise and empower’ the NSC.