Saturday, Jul 06, 2002
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By Our Special Correspondent
The BJP spokesman, Arun Jaitley, said he did not wish to go into the details but added that the due process of law would be followed. "As the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, L.K. Advani, has already said, the issue is in the domain of the State Government. Mr. Advani has sought a report from the Home Ministry but the Centre can only express its opinion. The State Government is looking into the case,'' he said. Mr. Jaitley, who was the Union Law Minister till the latest Cabinet reshuffle, told reporters at the party headquarters that the NDA Government had extended the ban on the LTTE and its views on the activities of the LTTE were "unambiguous.'' Clarifying that he was reacting after going through Mr. Vaiko's statement in the electronic media, Mr. Jaitley said the BJP would like to speak to the MDMK leader first before saying anything more on the subject. Asked how the NDA could justify the inclusion in its fold, a party like the MDMK which nursed sympathies for a banned terrorist organisation, Mr. Jaitley said the NDA was bound by a common minimum agenda. "There are certain issues which are not part of the NDA agenda. If anybody is supporting a terrorist organisation, there has to be evidence to substantiate the charge and invoke the provisions of POTA. The quantum of evidence has to be seen and assessed.'' Asked if it was not a case of "misuse of POTA", Mr. Jaitley said no penal law had been drafted till date which was not capable of being misused. There were enough safeguards in POTA to ensure that it was not misused, he said. Mr. Jaitley said the MDMK leader had made certain statements in the context of the Tamils' cause in Sri Lanka but had not supported the LTTE in the context of Tamil Nadu. Carefully sidestepping the applicability of POTA to Mr. Vaiko, the Congress spokesman, S. Jaipal Reddy, said his party's view on the MDMK leader's statement vis-a-vis the LTTE was no different from that of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. All that he would say to persistent questioning on the use of POTA against Mr. Vaiko was that it was a decision to be taken by the State on the basis of the evidence gathered by its law enforcement machinery. As for the Congress opposition to POTA, he said: "We opposed it right through, but now it is the law of the land.'' `A wrong signal'
Addressing newspersons on his maiden visit to the temple town after becoming the party president, Mr. Naidu said POTA should not be misused as it would give a wrong signal to the nation. Referring to the proposal on trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, he said the BJP wanted the border State to remain united. Mr Naidu said his aim now was to improve the BJP's strength by including all sections of the people in the country. The party cadre should work as a bridge between the Government and the people, he added. — UNI
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