Govt. has a 'closed mind' on POTO: Opposition

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 23. The Vajpayee Government's bid to hammer out a consensus on Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) appears to have run into rough weather, with an enraged Opposition accusing it of having a ``closed mind'' on the ordinance.

A meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Union Home Ministry today witnessed senior Opposition leaders taking on the Government for what they termed was its ``failure'' in placing its POTO cards on the table.

The CPI(M) described the committee meeting as ``unproductive'' as the Government had come with a ``closed mind.'' As the meeting remained inconclusive, it would be resumed on Monday, it was officially stated here.

The meeting saw the senior Congress leader, Mr. Arjun Singh, going on the offensive, saying there was nothing to discuss with the Government as it had failed to come up with any suggestions on POTO. In a similar vein, his colleague, Mr. Suresh Pachauri, criticised the Government for taking ``political parties for a ride''. He also rapped the Government for failing to initiate any consultation with the political parties before going ahead with the promulgation of the ordinance.

The CPI(M) leader, Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, who participated in the meeting, said the Vajpayee Government had organised the meeting ``just to show that there had been consultations on POTO''. He said its ``real intention'' was to see that the ordinance lapsed so that the BJP could make it an issue in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll campaign.

Mr. Chatterjee said the BJP wanted to portray the Opposition as an ``unwilling'' player when it came to fighting terrorism and fundamentalist forces. The party wanted itself painted in nationalist colours by putting on display its commitment to fight fundamentalist forces.

Addressing a press conference later, Mr. Chatterjee said the BJP Ministers and its party president were already carrying out a campaign against the Opposition on the subject which reflected their approach. The Government sought to exploit the post- September 11 situation to usher in a ``draconian law'' and asked the Government to explain what was the ``hurry'' in promulgating an ordinance when Parliament was scheduled to meet.

Changes needed: Vaiko

The general secretary of MDMK, Mr. Vaiko, told the meeting that POTO might be a bitter pill to swallow but in the context of the September 11 developments such a law was necessary.

But considering the bitter experience in the enforcement of the Preventive Detention Act, the Defence of India Act, MISA and later TADA, the possibility of misuse of POTO could not be ruled out. Hence, certain changes were necessary to POTO.

To allay the fears of journalists that they would be compelled to furnish the source of information, Mr. Vaiko wanted Section 3 (8) of POTO scrapped. Similarly, in the provision regarding confessional statements before a magistrate within 48 hours of the arrest, he said it should be reduced to 24 hours. He also wanted reconsideration of the definition of ``meeting'' under the Act as this provision was liable to be misused by police.

Mr. Ramgopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Mr. G.M. Banatwalla of the IUML rejected POTO outrightly, describing it as an ``anti- minority'' measure.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, is said to have told the members that the Government had incorporated all the six observations of the Supreme Court when it upheld the Constitutional validity of TADA. The Government wanted to hear the Opposition suggestions either focussing on what was unacceptable to it in POTO and if it wanted an entirely new law to replace it.

Mr. Advani is believed to have told the members that the Prime Minister had already made it known that an all-party meeting on POTO would be held soon.

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