New Delhi, September 17
Under pressure after the recent spate of bomb blasts, the Congress today did a dramatic U-turn on its stand on the need for a tough law to deal with increasing terrorist incidents.
Each time the BJP demanded that a POTA-like law be enacted, the Congress consistent response was that the existing laws, including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, were sufficient to deal with all aspects of terror in the country. It had also maintained that all necessary provisions in POTA dealing with combating terrorist activities had been incorporated in these laws.
Today, the Congress changed tack and instead endorsed the Administrative Reforms Commission’s recommendation that a tough law on terror be introduced but added a rider that it contain sufficient safeguards to prevent its misuse.
“We need a strong law on terror and also a federal agency to investigate cases of terror,” Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said on Wednesday. She said the UPA government had repealed POTA because it contained several provisions, which were used to target minorities, adding that a terror law should guard against such misuse.
The ARC, chaired by Congress media department chairman M Veerappa Moily in its report recommended a tough and stringent law on terror. The report, released on Tuesday, favoured the enactment of a comprehensive and effective legal framework to deal with all aspects of terror and a federal agency to investigate terrorist offences.
The U-turn from the Congress comes in the wake of a similar call for a stringent law against terrorism by several parties, including the BJP, which raised the issue during its national executive committee at Bangalore.
Interestingly, Moily had submitted the ARC report to the PMO about two months back but chose to publicise it now when the UPA government was facing flak for its inability to deal with increasing terrorist activities. Despite the ARC’s two-month-old recommendations, the unfaltering stand of Congress spokespersons had been that existing laws were adequate and that POTA was unconstitutional and against human rights.
Regarding reports about the appointment of a separate minister for internal security, Natarajan said any decision regarding the Home Ministry would be the prerogative of the Prime Minister.
