Click to play videoNew Delhi: The UPA Government says it wants stricter anti-terrorism laws but it seems it can’t say it in a united voice.
Prime Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said he didn’t have “inflexible” views on such laws and before that Veerappa Moily, chairperson of the Administrative Reforms Commission, said that he was not averse to the idea. But on Thursday Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said he didn’t believe stronger anti-terrorism laws were needed.
"What do you mean by tougher anti-terror laws. Some of our laws are much more strong than those in the US and UK," said Dasmunsi.
He rejected demands for reviving POTA, an anti-terror law which was repealed by the UPA Government in September 2004. “No, No, No. It is a draconian (law) and against human rights. If the present anti-terror laws are implemented properly, there is no requirement for additional laws,” he said.
Moily, who heads the Future Challenges Group, of the Congress had said on Tuesday: “what was not there in POTA, we are providing it here. It is not POTA, not TADA, not MOCOCA—it is a stand alone."
The Prime Minister on Wednesday said the government had no "fixed inflexible or ideological view" on such laws. "We have, in fact, taken the initiative to strengthen various laws like the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,” he said.
Diptosh Majumdar, CNN-IBN’s National Affairs Editor, analyses the many voices in the UPA Government as reflective of two views in the coalition. A lot of debate on tougher anti-terror laws and POTA is going on in the Congress and UPA.
Some UPA members believe that by proposing stronger anti-terror laws the Government will send a message to the public that it is working and is aggressive. But some other supporters of the Government are uncomfortable with the idea of a ‘draconian’ law.
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