Amendments if necessary, says PM

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 20. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today strongly defended his own decision to re-induct Mr. George Fernandes into the Union Cabinet without waiting for the Venkataswami Commission to complete its inquiry into the Tehelka affair, the scandal that had earlier led to Mr. Fernandes' exit from the Government.

In fact, it seems that Mr. Vajpayee went out of his way to give Mr. Fernandes a ``totally clean chit'' saying his decision was taken after ``deep thinking'' (soch samajh ke). The defence came `suo motu' when he addressed the Parliamentary Party meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party this morning although no member raised the matter.

He also defended the Government decision to promulgate the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), charging that the Opposition's motives in countering the proposed legislation were ``purely political.'' He signalled that he would be calling an all-party meeting to discuss the controversial ordinance later and also stated that the Government was willing to consider amendments, if necessary.

At the same time, the BJP spokesperson, Mr. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, later made it clear to reporters that the party was itself trying to see POTO in a political way. ``If POTO falls, it will bring political advantage to us, for the BJP will say that the Government wanted to crush terrorism, but the opposition parties prevented us,'' Mr. Malhotra said. His remarks were in line with the earlier party posture - opposition to POTO was equal to appeasement of terrorists. Mr. Malhotra, who briefed the press about the Parliamentary Party meeting was asked whether the National Human Rights Commission's objections to the draconian law were also political in nature. He dismissed this by saying that ``the Commission was not a political party'' and that ``the Commission's word is not the last word.'' Government sources later indicated that an all-party meeting on POTO will be called at during the end of November or early December after the National Democratic Alliance arrives at a decision on amendments to be made to POTO. Now, the thinking is veering round making it compulsory to present a person arrested under POTO before a magistrate within 24 hours, instead of the 48 hours in the current ordinance.

A second amendment could delete a controversial clause under which it was feared action could also be taken against journalists for withholding information they may gather during the course of their professional work. It seems that several allies and supporting parties, including the Telugu Desam Party and the MDMK, are insisting on these changes.

The Prime Minister is also reported to have briefed the Parliamentary Party about his recent three-nation tour. He claimed that after September 11, Indian diplomacy had been a ``big success'' while Pakistan, which was facing serious difficulties, had failed. Mr. Vajpayee claimed that India was very much a part of the global fight against terrorism.

The issue which agitated members, and it as raised, was the condition of the minority community in Bangladesh. Members talked about the raping of women and the feeling of families, and they were assured that protests had been lodged with the Bangladesh Government as well as with the country's High Commissioner here.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : BJP plans joint session of Parliament to pass POTO
Next     : Hizb rules out role for foreign militants