New Delhi, November 1
Union Home Minister L.K. Advani today said that the courts should consider sympathetically the human rights violation cases pending against the security personnel who fought terrorism in Punjab and also defended the government on the promulgation of the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO).

“As a representative of democracy, is it wrong to urge the courts to see whether their (security personnel’s) action were bona fide or mala fide?” Mr Advani asked while inaugurating an all-India on criminology conference here.

Clarifying that he had never used the word “immunity” in his statement during his recent Punjab visit, the Home Minister said, “I only used the words mala fide and bona fide and sought a considerate view on human rights cases pending against security personnel, who had fought bravely against terrorism in Punjab.... But there was widespread condemnation.”

Stressing that the government was committed to protecting the human rights of the people, he said, “The importance India gives to human rights violations could be assessed from the fact that the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission is headed by none other than a former Chief Justice of India,” Mr Advani said.

Stating that emergency is declared during wars so that no case is made out against the actions of security personnel who fight the enemy to protect the sovereignty of the country, Mr Advani added, “The cross-border terrorism perpetrated by our neighbour is no less than a war and in such a situation, where there is no declared war and the enemy is not easily identifiable, there could have been some instance of excesses.”

“Terrorism is a deliberate and systematic murder of fundamental rights of the civilians and of terrorising them for a political gain,” the Home Minister said quoting the book on terrorism written by former Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu to emphasise that terrorism in its all form should be crushed.

In a veiled attack on Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf, Mr Advani said, “Our neighbour termed the terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir as freedom fighters but nowhere in this world a freedom fighter or a revolutionarist blows a bus carrying non-combatants.”

Making it clear that the government would not spare any move in tackling terrorism, the Home Minister cautioned the people against “vested interests” attaching motives to this fight.

“Terrorism should not be linked to any religion as militants have no religion,” Mr Advani said, adding, “If terrorism has any links they are only with narcotics as this money was used to flourish this trade of hatred.”

Making light of the increasing opposition to the imposition of POTO, Mr Advani said under the present security scenario, this kind of an ordinance was essential.

Citing the example of the ‘anthrax scare’ in the country, the Home Minister said “No case of anthrax has been proved positive in the country so far..... But it is an act of terrorism and an act aimed at striking terror to make normal life impossible.”

“Under the present law, we cannot tackle this scare mongering, but under POTO we can deal with such unscrupulous elements who are spreading terror,” he said.

The Home Minister recalled his struggle against the “draconian” Terrorists Activities and Disruptive (Prevention) Act (TADA) in Gujarat and said, “We had opposed TADA because the then government was using it against the farmers to stop their agitation. But later when TADA was being properly used, there was criticism from some quarters that the Act was anti-Muslim. Even now (after the promulgation of POTO) we are hearing such kind of criticism.”

The Home Minister assured that under POTO, the fundamental rights of the citizen would not be diluted.

Earlier, Mr Advani presented the Kumarappa Reckless Awards to former Chief Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, Head of the Department of Criminology in Madras University K. Chockalingam, former Director-General of Tamil Nadu police V.R. Lakshminarayanan and Head of the Department in Criminology at National Institute of Criminal and Forensic Sciences for their contribution in the field of criminal justice system and criminolgy.