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Seminar thrashes out draft anti-terrorism legislation

An effective legislation should be framed to face the challenge of terrorism before the nation, suggested speakers of a seminar on 'draft legislation to combat terrorism', but they also stressed the need for a delicate balance to safeguard the human rights of individuals while implementing the law.

The seminar organised by the Law Commission of India in New Delhi on Saturday discussed the need for a new legislation to replace the repealed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention act, the ramification of various provisions of the draft legislation and modifications and amendments needed to be incorporated to make the law more effective.

It was presided over by Justice B P Jeevan Reddy, chairman of the Law Commission, and representatives of human rights bodies, leading lawyers in criminal law, senior officials of the home ministry, senior and retired police officials and army officers participated in the deliberations.

N N Vohra, former home secretary, said TADA had failed to effectively address the situation and those who talk of human rights should realise the ground reality by assessing the situation in Jammu and Kashmir where terrorists have killed thousands of people "and our existing legal system has failed to combat terrorism there".

He said the law should be framed accordingly to meet the challenge posed by rising militancy.

Former Punjab police chief K P S Gill said some 3000 to 5000 foreign mercenaries from 12 countries were active on Indian soil - which number was more than a division of the army -- and it has increased ten fold since 1993. Besides, 600 terrorists like Masood Azhar, who have entered the country with the intention of killing people, were detained in Indian jails.

The super cop who fought insurgents in Punjab said, ''Religious fundamentalism, weapons in the hands of unscrupulous persons, liberal courts and ample bleeding hearts (human rights organisations) has created a very dangerous situation in the country,'' and wondered who would defuse this live bomb.

''These facts show that terrorism is not a threat but a war which has been waged against the country and individual citizens can not fight it. Only the State has the apparatus and strength to end this menace. But if the State does not discharge its responsibility, we the citizens of this country would set up an apparatus to fight this ourselves,'' Gill said.

P K Dave, former lt governor of Delhi, was in favour of a stringent law as the perpetrators of crimes need to be punished to deter them for any future activities. S K Singh, former foreign secretary, suggested that the law should be futuristic as the nature of crime was changing everyday.

However, Maya Daruwala, a human rights activist, said when TADA was proved to be ineffective and was misused, who could ensure that the new legislation replacing it would not meet the same fate. She said the proposed legislation was one-sided as the Law Commission has not specified the lacunae in the TADA. The representative of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative said human rights violation under the proposed legislation would isolate India at the international level. Besides, one should not forget the judicial philosophy that civil liberties of some could not be violated for the benefit of masses, she added.

But former air chief marshal N C Suri differed from Daruwala and said a family should be sacrificed for the survival of an entire village, a village for town, a town for city and a city for the national interest. He said it was high time to frame a stringent legislation to deal with terrorism, which has a political aim, as the survival of the nation and people depended on it. Moreover, it was also needed to maintain moral and ethical values in the society.

Brigadier A K Shrivastava, joint judge advocate general in the army, also stressed the need for an effective legislation and its efficient implementation. He said TADA failed because of its faulty implementation for which the entire system could not be termed wrong.

Senior Advocate P N Lekhi said the proposed bill was ''useless, toothless, violative of human rights and cosmetic.'' He said it was a new edition of the repealed TADA which did no good to society. He said the grave problem of terrorism could not be fought in the court room or by law. It was a proxy war which could be fought only by changing the mindset of people and formulating effective policies. ''Human rights can only be granted if humans granted country's right,'' he added.

D R Karthikeyan, director general (investigations) of the National Human Rights Commission, said people who committed excesses should be punished, otherwise it demoralises the security forces and policemen who sacrificed their lives for apprehending them.

Ashok Pandit, of Panun Kashmir, said militants adopted the policy of ethnic cleansing against minority Hindu population in the Kashmir Valley. He said terrorism was a crime which should be dealt with stringent anti-terrorism laws and counter-ideological offence against the terrorists. Terrorist should be tried and punished to deter them from indulging in heinous crimes, he suggested.

Senior Counsel P P Rao said the proposed legislation should be stringent but maximum possible latitude should be granted to balance the human rights aspect in it.

UNI

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