PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2005 ID-2227
.
.
-, ........I'ID'\ .
.
. For Hmd1 1.
IP.T.O \.
All India Students' Association(AISA) 14 .10.04 \ Public Meeting.
Black Laws And The Challenses Before Indian Democracy .
Soo~kttre.
Gautam Navlakha, Consultant Editor, EP~Noted Human Right Activist.
Siddhartha Varadarajan, Noted Journalist, The Hindu.
Kavita K rishnan, Nation.:ll President, AISA, recently returned from Manipur as p.:1rt of CPI(Ml)'s Solidarity team.
.
Kaveri l'vless .
14.10.04 9:30pm.
Goodbye POTA? ...Welcome U LPA ! Please Stay AFSPA !.
·n1e new govemment has prom1sed to repeal POTA I'dbe surprised iffhat happens before similar legislation under a clifferenl name IS put.
in place.·-Arundha~ Roy in a pubhc address in California.August 16, 2004..
POTAwasbrought in as astrong--muscled lawand sharp-toothed law to fight terrorism. Even beforeit was passed, however, it wasclear thatits intention was not somuch to interceptterrorists, as to crush protest and silence dissent,by labeling entire communities of those who questioned.
Hindutva or liberalization as 'terrorists' -whether it be tribals·of Jharkhand or Muslims of Gujarat. Kashmir and Mumbai..
The Congress led the chorus against POTA. and promised that its Government would deliver democracy.by repealing this draconian law.RecenUy, the Government announced triumphantly that POTA was,indeed, being repealed. Hasthe UPA really delivered its promise of restoringdemocracy? Lerstake ahard look:.
In the first place,it iswelcome that Sections 32 and 49of POTA have been withdrawn, which made confessions made to asenior police officer.
admissiblein evidence. This provision, an open invitation to confessions extorted by custodial torture. has gone,and good riddance. The.
prov1s10n that those accused could seek bailonlyone year after U1e dale from detention,or under wh1ch the accused could be kept in detention.
for upto six monthswithout filing charges,has been dropped.SO far,so good. But most other provisions of POT/1. havebeen retained; notjust that.even certain safeguards available in POTA have been dropped in the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act..
The vague,catch-all definition of 'terrorism' used by POTA has been retained in the ULPA;adefinition which makes it possible for governments.
to define who is aterrorist according to convenience. Under ULPA,as underPOTA and TADA too, everyone from trade-unionists, teachers..
grandfathers, children,women,tribaJs, landless poor-all can continued to be lumped together as terrorists if and when it suits the government..
In other words, ULPA,like most other anti-terrorist legislation all over the world. does little to combat terrorism,but performs the 'function' of blurringthe line between dissent,resistance and protest, and terrorism.This function is very important for governments who are facingopposition from.
people on whom they are forcing devastating policies..
The amended ULPA also retains the POTA provision that intercepted communication,(wire,oral orelectronic) can be admissiblein evidence..
In faclit has made it easier to misuse such evidence, by doing away with the few safeguards U1at POTA had stipulated for tapping telephones or.
intercepting e-mails. UnderULPA,the State wiII continueto police rts dissentingcitizens,justas underPOTA..
In other words, the 'new improved' .
.
naishakti wala ULPAretains most ofPOTA's killercanines, and adds afew new ones ofits own.Why? The.
answer is clear. the Congress and the UPA are basically serving thesame tiny elite sectionof society as the NDA did; despiteits claims of a;humanface', the factis that the inhuman policies of globalization are being aggressively pursued. Anygovernment which implements these anti-.
I .
people policies, needs black laws as a handy weapon.to intimidate civil society and make peoplefear dissentand resistance..
Under Congress' own TADA, which is supposed tohave lapsed 9years ago, landless poor arebeing sentenced to death,and also to lifeimprisonment even today, in Bihar,ruled by akey UPA ally, whileTADA charges are withdrawn from Ranveer Senachieftains.In the new UPA u dispensation, Raja Bhaiyya and Vaiko may expect relief. even. rewardsin Ministerialberths. But the rural poor and minoritiesbooked under POTA ~m .
p'?.
will continue to be victimized and witch-hunted under ULPA-a blacklaw byanothername.Slater$ ressionwill simplyhave anew brand namenow.Unfortunately,the CPI-CPI(M) cwatchdogs' ofthe UPA have hailed the repeal ofPOTA withoutonce speaking outagainst the ;ase dishonestway in which POTA is being repackaged underULPA. can't.ase \oThe fact isthat even the CPI(M) has avested Interest in retaining black laws.In WestBengal,its State Govemmenthad done its best to.
introduce POCA, aphotocopy of POTA;only thepressure ofprotesthadembarrassed them into shelvingthe move.On the issue ofArmed Forces.
(Special Powers) Aclm the North East,theCPI(M)'s highest leadership,itsPolitburo, isspeaking thesamelanguage as Congress and BJP,even wnoare.
though their student wingSFI on campus istrying to deny the fact. In fact,27 outof 52 thanas in CPI(M)-ruled Tripura are underAFSPA, and '(adavat.
theActhas been in force in Tripura since 1997. . spOos\b\'1.
Even as the peopleof Manipur and the North Eastcontinue their brave struggle forscrapping of the AFSPA, 1958,the CPI(M)'s Tripura Chief seo.seJ'/·MinisterManikSarkar has advised the Manipur CM "notto yield to thedemand forwithdrawal oftheAct". In aspeech given in the ' Tripura StateAssembly, he has said that his party Politburo, ofwhich he is a member,feels thatthe AFSPA is "necessary in view of ,._,st-.a\Onethe currentsituation in North East'', and thatitis "necessary formaintaining theunityand integrrtyofthe count,Y'. (The Sentinel,.
Guwahati, Oct.11, '04) ~nne\ea\\et..
for agenuineThe brave women protestors of Manipur have been booked under the National Security Act. Meanwhile, the Central Govt is taking help of the .
"the bud..
US spy agency FBI,the Israeli Army, as well asthe militarydictatorship in Burma, in thename ofcurbing t'le 'unrest in the North Easr: aren'-~.
these imperialist powers arid dictatorships the real threat to our national security?When will the Indian State realize that peace in the NE can be 't :.. .
ensured,not by the extra troops and Israeli copters, but by democracy, dignity and development?.
Tonight,AISA invites you to aPublic Meeting to discuss Black Lawsand Indian Democracy, in the light of the repeal of POTA and amending of.
.
ULPA, and the current situation in Manipur..
Sd/-Mona Dm;, Pn:sidcnt. AISA. JNU .
Sd/-Awadlu~sh. (j~n Sccy., AISA. JNU .
.
Jr. secy. san\etV l'"P~ .
.
PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2005 ID-2227
.
.
-, ........I'ID'\ .
.
. For Hmd1 1.
IP.T.O \.
All India Students' Association(AISA) 14 .10.04 \ Public Meeting.
Black Laws And The Challenses Before Indian Democracy .
Soo~kttre.
Gautam Navlakha, Consultant Editor, EP~Noted Human Right Activist.
Siddhartha Varadarajan, Noted Journalist, The Hindu.
Kavita K rishnan, Nation.:ll President, AISA, recently returned from Manipur as p.:1rt of CPI(Ml)'s Solidarity team.
.
Kaveri l'vless .
14.10.04 9:30pm.
Goodbye POTA? ...Welcome U LPA ! Please Stay AFSPA !.
·n1e new govemment has prom1sed to repeal POTA I'dbe surprised iffhat happens before similar legislation under a clifferenl name IS put.
in place.·-Arundha~ Roy in a pubhc address in California.August 16, 2004..
POTAwasbrought in as astrong--muscled lawand sharp-toothed law to fight terrorism. Even beforeit was passed, however, it wasclear thatits intention was not somuch to interceptterrorists, as to crush protest and silence dissent,by labeling entire communities of those who questioned.
Hindutva or liberalization as 'terrorists' -whether it be tribals·of Jharkhand or Muslims of Gujarat. Kashmir and Mumbai..
The Congress led the chorus against POTA. and promised that its Government would deliver democracy.by repealing this draconian law.RecenUy, the Government announced triumphantly that POTA was,indeed, being repealed. Hasthe UPA really delivered its promise of restoringdemocracy? Lerstake ahard look:.
In the first place,it iswelcome that Sections 32 and 49of POTA have been withdrawn, which made confessions made to asenior police officer.
admissiblein evidence. This provision, an open invitation to confessions extorted by custodial torture. has gone,and good riddance. The.
prov1s10n that those accused could seek bailonlyone year after U1e dale from detention,or under wh1ch the accused could be kept in detention.
for upto six monthswithout filing charges,has been dropped.SO far,so good. But most other provisions of POT/1. havebeen retained; notjust that.even certain safeguards available in POTA have been dropped in the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act..
The vague,catch-all definition of 'terrorism' used by POTA has been retained in the ULPA;adefinition which makes it possible for governments.
to define who is aterrorist according to convenience. Under ULPA,as underPOTA and TADA too, everyone from trade-unionists, teachers..
grandfathers, children,women,tribaJs, landless poor-all can continued to be lumped together as terrorists if and when it suits the government..
In other words, ULPA,like most other anti-terrorist legislation all over the world. does little to combat terrorism,but performs the 'function' of blurringthe line between dissent,resistance and protest, and terrorism.This function is very important for governments who are facingopposition from.
people on whom they are forcing devastating policies..
The amended ULPA also retains the POTA provision that intercepted communication,(wire,oral orelectronic) can be admissiblein evidence..
In faclit has made it easier to misuse such evidence, by doing away with the few safeguards U1at POTA had stipulated for tapping telephones or.
intercepting e-mails. UnderULPA,the State wiII continueto police rts dissentingcitizens,justas underPOTA..
In other words, the 'new improved' .
.
naishakti wala ULPAretains most ofPOTA's killercanines, and adds afew new ones ofits own.Why? The.
answer is clear. the Congress and the UPA are basically serving thesame tiny elite sectionof society as the NDA did; despiteits claims of a;humanface', the factis that the inhuman policies of globalization are being aggressively pursued. Anygovernment which implements these anti-.
I .
people policies, needs black laws as a handy weapon.to intimidate civil society and make peoplefear dissentand resistance..
Under Congress' own TADA, which is supposed tohave lapsed 9years ago, landless poor arebeing sentenced to death,and also to lifeimprisonment even today, in Bihar,ruled by akey UPA ally, whileTADA charges are withdrawn from Ranveer Senachieftains.In the new UPA u dispensation, Raja Bhaiyya and Vaiko may expect relief. even. rewardsin Ministerialberths. But the rural poor and minoritiesbooked under POTA ~m .
p'?.
will continue to be victimized and witch-hunted under ULPA-a blacklaw byanothername.Slater$ ressionwill simplyhave anew brand namenow.Unfortunately,the CPI-CPI(M) cwatchdogs' ofthe UPA have hailed the repeal ofPOTA withoutonce speaking outagainst the ;ase dishonestway in which POTA is being repackaged underULPA. can't.ase \oThe fact isthat even the CPI(M) has avested Interest in retaining black laws.In WestBengal,its State Govemmenthad done its best to.
introduce POCA, aphotocopy of POTA;only thepressure ofprotesthadembarrassed them into shelvingthe move.On the issue ofArmed Forces.
(Special Powers) Aclm the North East,theCPI(M)'s highest leadership,itsPolitburo, isspeaking thesamelanguage as Congress and BJP,even wnoare.
though their student wingSFI on campus istrying to deny the fact. In fact,27 outof 52 thanas in CPI(M)-ruled Tripura are underAFSPA, and '(adavat.
theActhas been in force in Tripura since 1997. . spOos\b\'1.
Even as the peopleof Manipur and the North Eastcontinue their brave struggle forscrapping of the AFSPA, 1958,the CPI(M)'s Tripura Chief seo.seJ'/·MinisterManikSarkar has advised the Manipur CM "notto yield to thedemand forwithdrawal oftheAct". In aspeech given in the ' Tripura StateAssembly, he has said that his party Politburo, ofwhich he is a member,feels thatthe AFSPA is "necessary in view of ,._,st-.a\Onethe currentsituation in North East'', and thatitis "necessary formaintaining theunityand integrrtyofthe count,Y'. (The Sentinel,.
Guwahati, Oct.11, '04) ~nne\ea\\et..
for agenuineThe brave women protestors of Manipur have been booked under the National Security Act. Meanwhile, the Central Govt is taking help of the .
"the bud..
US spy agency FBI,the Israeli Army, as well asthe militarydictatorship in Burma, in thename ofcurbing t'le 'unrest in the North Easr: aren'-~.
these imperialist powers arid dictatorships the real threat to our national security?When will the Indian State realize that peace in the NE can be 't :.. .
ensured,not by the extra troops and Israeli copters, but by democracy, dignity and development?.
Tonight,AISA invites you to aPublic Meeting to discuss Black Lawsand Indian Democracy, in the light of the repeal of POTA and amending of.
.
ULPA, and the current situation in Manipur..
Sd/-Mona Dm;, Pn:sidcnt. AISA. JNU .
Sd/-Awadlu~sh. (j~n Sccy., AISA. JNU .
.
Jr. secy. san\etV l'"P~ .
.