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The new law against terrorism, POTO, has evoked consternation among India's intellectual elite. There is a fear that like TADA, it will also victimize innocent people.
Enacting laws cannot solve problems, nor can problems be solved by providing for a different and more drastic procedure for prosecution of certain crimes. Terrorist groups are using modern technology with ruthlessness in eliminating their adversaries. The agencies fighting them need strong laws and proper equipment to deal with them. Terrorists have rendered over five lakh persons homeless in our country and 54,000 lives have been lost in the last 15 years.
The Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) had become so discredited that no government could think of extending or reviving it. After its lapse in 1995, the Union Cabinet approved on October 16, 2001, the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO). The explanation given by the Indian Government for implementing POTO was that after September 11, terrorism has attained global dimensions and India has to comply with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 of September 28, 2001, enjoining member-states to undertake comprehensive measures to deal with terrorism. The battle against terrorism is justified because terrorists are following the path of violence mercilessly.
The main argument about the anti-terrorist legislation is that it is not that there is an intention to misuse it, but that there is a possibility of such misuse. Its predecessor, TADA had a long reign of 10 years, from 1985-1995. It was the most misused and abused anti-civil liberties legislation since independence. POTO also faces possibility of such misuse. The Congress party was instrumental in creating a host of dreadful laws like: PDA, DIA, MISA, NSA, TADA etc., in the past and these Acts were misused by the party to suit its political contingencies.
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