The Hindu : Bill on POTO

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 28, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Bill on POTO

Sir,— The controversial Bill on POTO has seen the light of day after a silent massacre of democracy. The point is not whether the law is genuine or it is enacted against the minorities or not. But it is a question of individual rights and democratic values. A joint session of Parliament is meant for national emergencies and safeguarding the national interests in times of crisis and not for pushing individual party ideologies. It is the duty of the ruling party to take into confidence the Opposition and allies and not allure them with political gains. This shows a lack respect for democracy.

The regional parties supporting the Government at the Centre have supported the Bill for their own political gains. For Chandrababu Naidu it brought an assurance on enough rice allocation and for Farooq Abdullah it is good news as he can use the law against the Opposition.

Devanath R,
Tirupati, A.P.

Sir,— With the POTO Bill securing Parliamentary approval in a joint session, its opponents seem to have inadvertently given a shot in the arm to the ruling NDA Government which was otherwise on a sticky wicket after the communal riots in Gujarat.

The Opposition stand that enacting POTO would impinge on the democratic framework of India is truly inexplicable. It is not as if India is the only democracy in the world tuning itself to the changed global scenario. Post-September 11, it has committed itself to being part of the global war against terrorism and has to abide by the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1373 that mandates every country to adopt measures to banish terrorism from its soil.

It is ironical that in spite of India being a major victim of terrorism, the Government had to seek a hurdle-ridden route to pass an anti-terrorism bill while Pakistan, which had until September 11 actually glorified terrorism as `jehad', is making aggressive attempts to root it out from its soil. The Pakistan Cabinet recently approved the draft of the Police Ordinance 2002, which is all set to replace the not-so-stringent Police Act of 1961.

Though the U.S. is a vibrant democracy that most vociferously espouses the cause of human rights, the Bush administration has resorted to a similar anti-terrorist law _ only, unlike India, it hardly met with any resistance.

The Prime Minister's assurance that the law could be suitably amended if any provision is found to be continuously misused, should allay the fears of its opponents.

Nalini Vijayaraghavan,
Thiruvananthapuram

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

Stories in this Section

From POTO to POTA

Towards fiscal consolidation

India's new neighbour

The S&T policy

Let the people of Kashmir decide: Geelani

Bt cotton, a boon to Indian farmers?