PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2006 ID-2767
.
l-1-.10~.
For Hmdt .
All India Students Association(AISA).
.
P.T.O .
Public Meeting .
Black LawJ And The Challenge~ Before Indian Democracy .
.
Spo;; kers .
Ga utam N a via kha, Consultant Editor, EPW, Noted Human Right Activist .
Siddhartha Varadarajan, Noted Journalist, The Hindu .
Kavita Krishnan, National Pres1dent, AISA, recently returned from Man1pur as part of CPI(ML)'s Solidarity tearn .
.
14. 10.04 9:30pm.
Kaveri Mess .
Goodbye POTA? ...Welcome ULPA! Please Stay AFSPA! ·n1e new govemment has prom1sed to repeal POTA I'd be swprised 1fthat happens before SJrmlar legJsla/Jon under a cltfferenl rnmr.: 1s put mplace·-ArundhaU Roy tn a pubhc address tn California. August 16. 2004 .
POTA was brought in as astrong-muscled law and sharp-toothed law to fight terrorism.Even before it was passed however it was clear that 1ts 1ntenoon wasnot so much to intercept terrorists, as to crush protest and silence dissent, by labeling entire commun1tJes of those who questioned Hmdutva or liberalization as 'terronsts'-whether 1t be tnbals of Jharkhand or Muslimsof GuJarat, Kashm1r and Mumba1..
.
The Congress led the chorus agarnst POTA, and prorntsed thatlts Government would deliver democracy by repealing thts dracoman law Recently, the Government announced tnumphantly that POTA was. rndeed, be1ng repealed. Has the UPA really delivered its promtse or restoring democracy? Let's take ahard look· · .
.
In the first place,it iswelcome that Sections 32 and 49of POTA have been withdrawn,wh1ch madeconfess1ons made to asemorpoliceofficer admissible in ev1dence Th1s provision, an open inv1tallon to confess1ons extorted by cu;.tod1al torture, has gone and good riddance The proviSIOn lhal 01ose accused could seek batIonly on~year after the date from detentton. or under wll1clllht: accu~t:d could be kept1n delenUon for upto SIX months Without fihng charges, has been dropped So far, so good But most other prov1s1ons of POTA have been retamed. notJUSt thal, even certam safeguards available mPOTA have been dropped mthe amended Unlawful ActiVIUes (Prevention) .A.ct .
.
.
The vague. catch-al defin1tJon of 'terrorism' used by POTA has been retatned 1n the ULPA, a defimuon which makes'' posstble for goverrments to define who IS aterronst according to convenience.Under ULPA. as under POTA and TADA too,everyone from trade-unionists. teachers. grandfathers children women tnbals, landless poor-all can cont1nued to be lumped together as terronsts 1f and when 1t suits the government. In other words LJLPA. hke most other ano-terronst legislation all over the world.does little to combat terrorism but performs the ·function or b!umng the line between dtssent, reststance and protest, and terrorism. This function is very tmportant for governments who are factng opposttlon from people on whom they are forc1ng devastating pol1ctes .
.
.
The amended ULPA also retatns the POTA prov1s1on that mtercepted communtcatJon. (w1re, oral or electromc) can be admtSSible 1n ev1dence In fact. ithas made it easter to m1suse such ev1dence by do1ng away w1U1the few safeguards that POTA t)a<J sttpulated for tapprng telephones 01 intercepting e-ma~ls. Under ULPA, the State will continue to police its dissenting citizens, just as underPOTA. .
.
.
In otherwords, the 'new improved' naishakti wala ULPA retains most of POTA's killer canines, and adds afew new ones of its own Why? The answer tsclear: the Congress and the UPA are basically serving the same tiny elite section of society as the NDA d1d,desptle Jtsclatms of a 'human face', the fact is lhal the Inhuman polic1es of globalization are bemg aggresSively pursued Any government which implements these anti-people policies, needs black laws as a handy weapon to intimidate civil society and make people feardtssent and resistance. .
Under Congress'own TADA, which is supposed to have lapsed 9 years ago, landless poor are be1ng sentenced lo death, and also to life imprisonment even today, in B1har, ruled by akey UPA ally, while T ADA charges are withdrawn from Ranveer Sena chieftains.In the new UPA dispensation. Raja Bhaiyya and Vaiko may expect relief, even rewards in Mlnrstenal berths But U1e rural poor and m1nonues booked under POTA will continue to bevtcl!m1zed and Witch-hunted under ULPA-ablack law by another name State re~ressron w111 s1mply have anew brand name now .
Unfortunately, the CPI-CPI(M) 'watchdogs' of the UPA have hailed the repeal of POTA without once speaking out against the dishonest way in which POTA is being repackaged under ULPA. .
The fact is that even the CPI(M) has a vested interest in retaining black laws In West Bengal, its State Governmenthad done tts best to introduce POCA, a photocopy of POTA, only the pressure of protest had embarrassed them 1nlo shelving the move On the 1ssue of Armed Forces {SpeCial Powers) Act rn the North Eas~ the CPl(M)'s highest leadership, 1ts Politburo. ts speaking the same language as Congress and BJP, even though their student wingSFI on campus is trytng to deny the fact In fact, 27 out of 52 thanas in CPI(M)-ruled Tripura are under AFSPA, and the Act has been in force in Tripura since 1997. .
Even as the people of Manipur and the North Eastcontinue their brave struggle forscrapptng of the AFSPA, 1958,the CPI(M)'s Tripura Chief Minister ManikSarkar has advised the ManipurCM 11 not to yield to the demand for withdrawal ofthe Act". In a speech given in the Tripura State Assembly, he has said that his party Politburo,of which he is a member, feels thatthe AFSPA is "necessary in view of the current situation in North East", and that it is "necessary for maintaining the unity and integrityof the country". (The Sentinel, .
Guwahati, Oct.11, J04) ~ .
The brave women protestors of Mantpur have been booked under lhe National Secunty Act. Meanwhile, the Central Govt is taking help of the US spy agency FBI, the Israeli Anny, as well as the military dictatorship in Bunna, tn thename ofcurbing the 'unrest 1n the North EC~.st: arffi't these imperialist powers and drctatorshtps the real threat to our national secunty? When wtll the Indian State reahze that peace 1n the NE can be ensured, not by the extra troops and Israeli copters, but by democracy,digntty and development? .
Tonigh~ AI SA invites you to aPublic Meeting to d1scuss Black Laws and lnd1an Democracy, in the light of the repeal of POTA and amending of U ULPA, and the current situation in Manrpur Sd/-Momt D:ts. Pn:stdl' lll. AI SA. JNU S(I/-A'' adhc'h G~n Sl-'C). AI~\ JNU .
.
.
.
.
PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2006 ID-2767
.
l-1-.10~.
For Hmdt .
All India Students Association(AISA).
.
P.T.O .
Public Meeting .
Black LawJ And The Challenge~ Before Indian Democracy .
.
Spo;; kers .
Ga utam N a via kha, Consultant Editor, EPW, Noted Human Right Activist .
Siddhartha Varadarajan, Noted Journalist, The Hindu .
Kavita Krishnan, National Pres1dent, AISA, recently returned from Man1pur as part of CPI(ML)'s Solidarity tearn .
.
14. 10.04 9:30pm.
Kaveri Mess .
Goodbye POTA? ...Welcome ULPA! Please Stay AFSPA! ·n1e new govemment has prom1sed to repeal POTA I'd be swprised 1fthat happens before SJrmlar legJsla/Jon under a cltfferenl rnmr.: 1s put mplace·-ArundhaU Roy tn a pubhc address tn California. August 16. 2004 .
POTA was brought in as astrong-muscled law and sharp-toothed law to fight terrorism.Even before it was passed however it was clear that 1ts 1ntenoon wasnot so much to intercept terrorists, as to crush protest and silence dissent, by labeling entire commun1tJes of those who questioned Hmdutva or liberalization as 'terronsts'-whether 1t be tnbals of Jharkhand or Muslimsof GuJarat, Kashm1r and Mumba1..
.
The Congress led the chorus agarnst POTA, and prorntsed thatlts Government would deliver democracy by repealing thts dracoman law Recently, the Government announced tnumphantly that POTA was. rndeed, be1ng repealed. Has the UPA really delivered its promtse or restoring democracy? Let's take ahard look· · .
.
In the first place,it iswelcome that Sections 32 and 49of POTA have been withdrawn,wh1ch madeconfess1ons made to asemorpoliceofficer admissible in ev1dence Th1s provision, an open inv1tallon to confess1ons extorted by cu;.tod1al torture, has gone and good riddance The proviSIOn lhal 01ose accused could seek batIonly on~year after the date from detentton. or under wll1clllht: accu~t:d could be kept1n delenUon for upto SIX months Without fihng charges, has been dropped So far, so good But most other prov1s1ons of POTA have been retamed. notJUSt thal, even certam safeguards available mPOTA have been dropped mthe amended Unlawful ActiVIUes (Prevention) .A.ct .
.
.
The vague. catch-al defin1tJon of 'terrorism' used by POTA has been retatned 1n the ULPA, a defimuon which makes'' posstble for goverrments to define who IS aterronst according to convenience.Under ULPA. as under POTA and TADA too,everyone from trade-unionists. teachers. grandfathers children women tnbals, landless poor-all can cont1nued to be lumped together as terronsts 1f and when 1t suits the government. In other words LJLPA. hke most other ano-terronst legislation all over the world.does little to combat terrorism but performs the ·function or b!umng the line between dtssent, reststance and protest, and terrorism. This function is very tmportant for governments who are factng opposttlon from people on whom they are forc1ng devastating pol1ctes .
.
.
The amended ULPA also retatns the POTA prov1s1on that mtercepted communtcatJon. (w1re, oral or electromc) can be admtSSible 1n ev1dence In fact. ithas made it easter to m1suse such ev1dence by do1ng away w1U1the few safeguards that POTA t)a<J sttpulated for tapprng telephones 01 intercepting e-ma~ls. Under ULPA, the State will continue to police its dissenting citizens, just as underPOTA. .
.
.
In otherwords, the 'new improved' naishakti wala ULPA retains most of POTA's killer canines, and adds afew new ones of its own Why? The answer tsclear: the Congress and the UPA are basically serving the same tiny elite section of society as the NDA d1d,desptle Jtsclatms of a 'human face', the fact is lhal the Inhuman polic1es of globalization are bemg aggresSively pursued Any government which implements these anti-people policies, needs black laws as a handy weapon to intimidate civil society and make people feardtssent and resistance. .
Under Congress'own TADA, which is supposed to have lapsed 9 years ago, landless poor are be1ng sentenced lo death, and also to life imprisonment even today, in B1har, ruled by akey UPA ally, while T ADA charges are withdrawn from Ranveer Sena chieftains.In the new UPA dispensation. Raja Bhaiyya and Vaiko may expect relief, even rewards in Mlnrstenal berths But U1e rural poor and m1nonues booked under POTA will continue to bevtcl!m1zed and Witch-hunted under ULPA-ablack law by another name State re~ressron w111 s1mply have anew brand name now .
Unfortunately, the CPI-CPI(M) 'watchdogs' of the UPA have hailed the repeal of POTA without once speaking out against the dishonest way in which POTA is being repackaged under ULPA. .
The fact is that even the CPI(M) has a vested interest in retaining black laws In West Bengal, its State Governmenthad done tts best to introduce POCA, a photocopy of POTA, only the pressure of protest had embarrassed them 1nlo shelving the move On the 1ssue of Armed Forces {SpeCial Powers) Act rn the North Eas~ the CPl(M)'s highest leadership, 1ts Politburo. ts speaking the same language as Congress and BJP, even though their student wingSFI on campus is trytng to deny the fact In fact, 27 out of 52 thanas in CPI(M)-ruled Tripura are under AFSPA, and the Act has been in force in Tripura since 1997. .
Even as the people of Manipur and the North Eastcontinue their brave struggle forscrapptng of the AFSPA, 1958,the CPI(M)'s Tripura Chief Minister ManikSarkar has advised the ManipurCM 11 not to yield to the demand for withdrawal ofthe Act". In a speech given in the Tripura State Assembly, he has said that his party Politburo,of which he is a member, feels thatthe AFSPA is "necessary in view of the current situation in North East", and that it is "necessary for maintaining the unity and integrityof the country". (The Sentinel, .
Guwahati, Oct.11, J04) ~ .
The brave women protestors of Mantpur have been booked under lhe National Secunty Act. Meanwhile, the Central Govt is taking help of the US spy agency FBI, the Israeli Anny, as well as the military dictatorship in Bunna, tn thename ofcurbing the 'unrest 1n the North EC~.st: arffi't these imperialist powers and drctatorshtps the real threat to our national secunty? When wtll the Indian State reahze that peace 1n the NE can be ensured, not by the extra troops and Israeli copters, but by democracy,digntty and development? .
Tonigh~ AI SA invites you to aPublic Meeting to d1scuss Black Laws and lnd1an Democracy, in the light of the repeal of POTA and amending of U ULPA, and the current situation in Manrpur Sd/-Momt D:ts. Pn:stdl' lll. AI SA. JNU S(I/-A'' adhc'h G~n Sl-'C). AI~\ JNU .
.
.
.
.