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| BJP's double-standards Anti-terror law in Gujarat, review of toothless anti-terror laws in J&K | | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 2: The BJP government in Gujarat on Tuesday did well topass a bill which empowers the police to intercept phone calls and allows such intercepts and confessions extracted to be used as evidence in a court of law. The bill in its earlier form had failed to get Presidential assent twice. The proposed legislation provides the police with complete powers to tap personal phones without permission and detain people. The Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organized Crime (GCTOC) Bill, 2015, was passed by the House, where the BJP commands a majority, on the last day of the Budget session.
The bill aims at strengthening the state anti-terror and anti-organized crime laws. The Congress, which had been opposing the bill for over a decade now, registered its opposition once again and staged a walk-out. The bill, drawn on the lines of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act and Karnataka Control of Organized Crime Act, has a provision for death penalty and a fine of Rs 10 lakh. Like the now repealed Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), the bill allows confessions made to law enforcement agencies admissible in court as evidence. While the bill has been renamed, it still contains the provisions that had led to its rejection by Presidents in the past.
Justifying the provision on tapping of telephones, the 'Statement of Objects and Reasons' in the bill states that it is necessary in the contemporary day where organized criminal syndicates make extensive use of wire and oral communication. It says that the interception of such communication to obtain evidence is inevitable and an indispensable aid for the law enforcement.
The BJP needs to be appreciated for passing a bill that is aimed at defeating terrorism and controlling organized crime. Leave aside the senseless and communally motivated opposition to it by the Congress, the Left and the Left-oriented parties and the so-called human rights activists, who always side with subversives and terrorists.
However, it is also time to question the approach of the BJP towards the militant and separatist-infested Jammu and Kashmir, which has been suffering huge losses, including loss of life, particularly since 1987 at the hands of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists and its assets in the Valley, including militants and separatist and communal organizations such the Hurriyat Conferences of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, JKLF of Murderer Yasin Malik and Hizbul Mujahideen of Syed Salah-ud-din. Till the other day, the BJP was for the adoption of stringent anti-terror laws and was highly critical of those who were demanding withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers act, Disturbed Areas act and Public safety Act. It used to say that those who were opposing these laws were not the well-wishers of the people and would accuse them of appeasing the Muslim community. Its attitude suddenly changed after the election results in Jammu and Kashmir were declared.
In fact, the BJP did a complete U-turn to grab political power in Jammu and Kashmir. Its leadership endorsed the separatist-friendly view that the situation in the state had vastly improved and it would be only desirable if the laws like the AFSPA were reviewed. The likes of Ram Madhav, former RSS spokesperson and presently BJP national general secretary, who clinched a bad, roundly condemned and "anti-Jammu" power-sharing deal, surprised the whole country as well as the BJP cadres and supporters and committed RSS followers, by not only endorsing the view that the situation in the state had considerably improved, but also by agreeing to the suggestion that the applicability of the laws like the AFSPA needed to be reviewed.
Just look at the "Agenda of Alliance", also called Common Minimum Programme, and see for yourself what it says about the prevailing security scenario and the laws like the AFSPA. It says, "the situation in the State has improved vastly and to build greater public confidence in its sustainability, people of the State must be able to get the peace and normalcy dividend". It also says," In this context, the coalition government will thoroughly review the security situation in the state with a view to examine the need and desirability of all the special laws being applied to the state in view of the situation which is improving". "While both parties have historically held a different view on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the need for it in the State at present, as part of the agenda for governance of this alliance, the coalition government will examine the need for de-notifying 'disturbed areas'. This, as a consequence, would enable the Union Government to take a final view on the continuation of AFSPA in these areas," the Agenda of Alliance also says. It doesn't stop just there. It further says that "All lands other than those given to the security forces on the basis of lease, licenses and acquisition under the provision of the Land Acquisition Act shall be returned to the rightful legal owners, except in a situation where retaining the lands is absolutely imperative in view of a specific security requirement".
What it did in Gujarat on Tuesday to tackle the menace of terrorism and organized crime and what it did in Jammu and Kashmir for the sake of power and at the cost of national security must thoroughly expose the BJP leadership. |
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