New Delhi, August 29
The UPA government today rejected the Opposition’s demand for the revival of POTA but promised to have an open mind on having a federal investigating agency to deal with situations like Hyderabad blasts.
Union home minister Shivraj Patil, in his reply on a charged debate on the adjournment motion moved by the BJP in the Lok Sabha, said the concept floated for a federal investigating agency needed to be carefully looked into and should not be brushed aside.
He, however, made it clear that the government would not force the idea on the state governments and would not do anything in this regard until a consensus was developed.
“If this entire House agrees, if the state governments agree, then we shall have no difficulty on setting it up,” Patil said.
The motion was negated by a voice vote. After it was defeated, Opposition members staged a noisy walkout.
On POTA, he said the draconian law had given rise to situations that bred terrorists and created problems for innocent people. The minister also presented in Parliament a status paper on internal security situation, prepared by the ministry of home affairs.
The Opposition accused the government of “vote bank politics” in being soft on terror while agitated members in the Rajya Sabha forced an adjournment.
The BJP-led Opposition in the Lok Sabha demanded re-imposition of POTA. Prabhunath Singh (JDU), moving an adjournment motion against the “failure of the government to contain terrorist violence as is evident from the latest series of incidents, including the Hyderabad blasts”, launched an attack on Patil and criticised him for his “incompetence”.
Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani said that the UPA had been soft on terrorism. “I do not think terrorism is linked with any community. But this government has been indulging in vote bank politics instead of being strict,” he said.
Mohammed Salim (CPIM) blamed the Andhra Pradesh government for its “lacklustre attitude” towards intelligence warnings about a possible attack in Hyderabad.
Mohan Singh (Samajwadi Party), Sudhakar Reddy (CPI), Nikhil Kumar (Congress), S. Krishnaswamy (DMK), V.K. Malhotra (BJP) and Brij Kishore Tripathy (BJD) also participated in the discussion.
