New Delhi, November 22
While ruling out the possibility of introducing any tougher law like POTA to deal with terrorism, home minister Shivraj Patil today claimed there had been fewer terror attacks in the last four-and-a-half-years under the UPA government as compared to the period before and regretted that an impression was being created that the number of such incidents had increased.
Inaugurating a two-day conference of directors general of police and inspectors general of police here, Patil said: “Fortunately, the number of incidents and casualties that have occurred in the last four-and-a-half years is much lower than those occurred before. Yet, the impression created is that terrorism has increased and is not reduced. Even if one incident occurs or one person becomes a casualty, it should cause us concern and should make us alert... What is happening in our country should be studied by us to find effective solutions to the existing problems.”
His statement comes in the wake of the BJP’s charge that the number of terror attacks had increased under the present Congress-led UPA regime, as the government did not have stringent laws to meet the challenge posed by terrorism.
Noting that at present, the terrorists were using sophisticated weapons and explosive devices to perpetrate terror, he said, in future, they were likely to use nuclear, biological and chemical devices and other mechanical and psychological weapons. The police forces should be trained to cope up with these kinds of problems and incidents.
Patil said the government repealed POTA as it went against the basic principles of criminal jurisprudence relating to the onus of proof and admissibility of the confessions, not made according to the principles adopted in the Criminal Procedure Code.
“It is not possible to have a law like POTA in the statute book. The relevant provisions in POTA needed to control terrorism have been introduced and retained in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act,” he added.
The home minister said: “Terrorism needs be tackled using a multi-pronged approach. Police forces can help. But, other methods to deal with it are also required.”
“Religions or cultures do not preach terrorism. Terrorism is nothing but a kind of violent cowardice... Terrorists want to use the psychology of unsuspecting and innocent persons for communal disturbances,” Patil said.
