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POTA: Hizb warns of `action' against NC

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR APRIL 9 . The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the indigenous militant organisation, is planning "decisive action'' against the ruling National Conference for implementing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), which, according to the outfit, is aimed at "repression of Muslims''.

Its spokesman, Junaidul Islam, in a write-up published in the Urdu weekly Chattan, said that many non-Muslim and non-BJP leaders and parties had reservations on POTA but the Government headed by Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, lost no time in implementing it. It was "restraining itself from taking harsh measures against the NC.'' He referred to senior leaders such as Kapil Sibal, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Deve Gowda and Chandra Shekhar who, he said, had termed it as an anti-minority law. Regretting that the NC regime in Jammu and Kashmir was the first to implement the law, Mr. Islam said that many State Governments across the country had refused to do so.

He said that POTA would not make any difference to Kashmiris as during the days of TADA the "worst atrocities were committed''. "It was not because of POTA that a freedom lover (reference to the JKLF founder Maqbool Bhatt) was hanged'', he remarked.

"Nothing is going to come out of such black laws," he said, adding that this spoke of the BJP's moral bankruptcy and is aimed at keeping the Sangh Parivar in good humour''.

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