'Cong. adopting double standards'

By Neena Vyas

AMRITSAR, NOV. 2. The Union Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani, today warned the Congress that if it did not support POTO it would amount to appeasement of terrorists and the ``country will not forgive it.''

Speaking during the discussion on the political resolution at the BJP's national executive committee meeting here today, Mr. Advani, charged the Congress with adopting ``double standards''. While Congress Governments were happily applying stringent special laws against organised crime in Maharashtra and now Karnataka (bill was awaiting presidential assent), it was opposing POTO. He said that POTO, in fact, had many safeguards against abuse and misuse. He also pointed out that a similar ``double standard'' was evident when the Rajasthan Government had adopted a law to deal with madrasas being used for wrongful purposes, the opposition party had come down heavily against the Uttar Pradesh Government for enacting a similar legislation.

He said POTO was absolutely necessary to fight terrorism, and it would be a dreadful mistake to oppose this law. He appealed to all parties to rise above partisan politics and come forward to cooperate in passing the draconian legislation. At the same time, he also warned his own party not to allow POTO to become an anti- minority instrument. For this, he said they would also have to counter the propaganda launched by the opposition parties that the BJP-led Government was in fact interested in using it as an anti-minority weapon.

Terrorism and how to deal with it was the subject of the political resolution to be released formally tomorrow. It was moved by Mr. Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

`POTO will get through Parliament'

The Union Law Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley, is quite confident that the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, 2001 (POTO) will have no difficulty in getting through Parliament. ``Maybe the Opposition parties will move a few amendments, but they will pass it, if they do not, they will have egg on their face and several parties have passed almost identical laws in the States they rule,'' he said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the BJP meet, he pointed out that Maharashtra had a similar law for ``organised crime'' since March 1999, Karnataka recently passed a law which is waiting for presidential assent, Andhra Pradesh had adopted a similar legislation to deal with the Naxalite problem, and in West Bengal the State Cabinet had given the green signal for a similar law, but now the CPI(M) is having second thoughts.

Mr. Jaitley said that had it not been for the now lapsed TADA and its provisions for taking evidence which were not in the normal Indian Evidence Act, many of those who were convicted for conspiring in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case ``would have never been convicted''. Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the Congress president, would have to make up her mind to support the POTO, he said, ``otherwise she will have egg on her face''. He added, ``It is no argument to say that a stringent law is needed to fight organised crime, but not for fighting terrorism.''

About Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and supporter of the NDA Government, Mr. Jaitley said that, ``he should amend his own State laws'' before talking about amending the POTO.

Counting the various safeguards in the POTO, his view was that if India could not adopt the POTO, then the international community would laugh at its commitment to root out terrorism and terrorists.

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