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The defeat of POTO in
the winter session of the Lokh Sabhha is no guarantee that draconian
anti-terrorist legislation will not be passed as the entire parliamentary
opposition are for such legislation. Mere electoral considerations have forced
the opposition and even alliance partners to oppose it for the present. The
Congress (I)-led coalition has long back passed similar legislation in
Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan (planned). A few days before the passing of
this Ordinance, the West Bengal cabinet decided to pass the POCO — a
legislation, similar to POTO.
On Oct. 26 the BJP-led
Central government passed the fascist Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO),
and immediately brought it into effect to use it to ban 23 organisations. A few
days earlier, on Oct.22 the West Bengal cabinet approved a stringent
anti-terrorist ordinance — Prevention of Organised Crime Ordinance (POCO) — with
a provision of death sentence for persons convicted of "anti-national and
subversive activities and organised crime". This too was earlier planned to
be passed as an ordinance and made into an Act during the winter session of the
Assembly. So, the revisionist CPI/CPM is competing with the BJP in its fascist
measures. But, embarrassed by its own double standards, particularly in the wake
of the coming elections in UP, it has temporarily retracted from passing it.
The then Congress(I)
government had been desperate to pass such an ordinance ever since the lapse of
TADA in 1995. In the same year it introduced the Criminal Law Amendment Bill,
1995 (CLA), but due to the massive opposition to the misuse of TADA, this was
not passed. At that time it was the BJP that opposed the Bill. In 2000, the CLA
was sought to be resurrected by the BJP-led government, but due to its
widespread criticism it was rechristened as Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2000.
Yet, due to opposition it could not be transformed into an Act. Utilizing the
atmosphere resulting from the Sep.11 attacks on the US, it has now pushed
through an Ordinance (which will need ratification of Parliament), which is far
more draconian than anything thought of earlier.
It is often said that
TADA proved ineffective as the conviction rate did not exceed 0.9% of those
arrested. But that is precisely its ‘effectiveness’ — i.e. to detain, harass,
and terrorise people who would normally not be able to be acted upon for lack of
evidence. Like in the Veerappan case, they could be kept behind bars for years
before being finally found not guilty. But those arrested had to be terrorized
by the State for the ‘crime’ of, say, merely giving food to Veerappan and his
associates. It is to promote such terror against even the vaguest sympathisers
of targeted organizations that such a legislation is used. So thousands of
innocent Muslims were arrested under TADA to terrorise the entire community, as
also were the Reliance workers in order to terrorise the working class.
POTO
In POTO the
definition of ‘terrorist’ is even broader and all encompassing. With mere "intent
to threaten the unity and integrity of the country" a person can be framed
as a ‘terrorist’. This is not only vague, but also arbitrary, as "intention"
could be interpreted in any way, as opposed to any ‘action’ as evidence.
But this is not all. A ‘terrorist’ can also be anyone who "disrupts essential
services and supplies". In other words any industrial action by workers, let
alone a strike, can invite this clause. The definition of an ‘act of terrorism’
has been broadened to include membership, support, assistance, or furthering the
activities of any terrorist organization. Giving funds to any such organization
can also be branded as ‘terrorism’. In other words any journalist, who reports
on the activities of a banned organization, can face prosecution under POTO. It
also punishes a person who "conspires or attempts to commit, or advocates,
abets, advises, or incites or knowingly facilitates acts preparatory to a
terrorist action". A clause of this nature makes it extremely arbitrary and
open to abuse by the police or ruling party.
Worst of all, POTO
makes omission to give information to assist apprehension of a person involved
in a terrorist act, as punishable under it. This would not only legitimise the
harassment and torture of family members, but has serious implications for the
freedom of the press. The Editors Guild of India has expressed serious concern
over certain implications of the ordinance. It said that, "the provisions can
compel journalists to reveal details of their sources and also give away to the
police the news material they had obtained from such sources. Journalists can
also be arrested for even meeting their sources or receiving information
….".
TADA was valid for 2
years; POTO is valid for 5 years. Under TADA an area had to be declared as a
‘disturbed area’ before the provisions came into force. POTO has no such
provisions and is immediately applicable throughout the country. Like TADA, here
too the police are given sweeping powers to deny bail, and to force confessions
that will be admissible as evidence in a court of law. The Bill allows the
identity and address of the witnesses to be kept secret. It denies the accused
the right of proper cross-examination. Also, in a reversal of bourgeois
jurisprudence, the detained persons must prove their innocence.
Under POTO, the
government immediately banned 23 organisations including most of the groups that
are for armed struggle in Kashmir, the North-East {except the NSCN (IM), the
Khaplang group and some others which have relations with the government},
Punjab, as also SIMI, LTTE and a few others. Though M-L parties have not been
included in the present round, Advani has threatened that others can be
introduced on the list later, thereby holding out a threat to anyone who may
seek to fight injustice. Besides, with or without the ban, POTO can attack
anyone.
POCO
Under POCO
(Prevention of Organised Crime Ordinance), which is sought to be introduced by
the CPM-led Left front government in West Bengal, the minimum punishment is 5
years and a fine of Rs.50,000. POCO will empower the police to detain an accused
in custody for 180 days without filing a charge sheet. The Chief Minister of
West Bengal said that such a law was necessary " to combat the special kind
of crimes that the State and nation were facing". The reason for opposing
the Central POTO the CM said was because law and order was a State subject.
Like the Central government, which did not consult the NHRC (National Human
Rights Commission), the CPM State government did not consult the West Bengal
Human Rights Commission. On the contrary, the legislation was drafted in
consultation with the Union Home Ministry. In the process of its drafting Jyoti
Basu has gone so far as to express alarm at the growth of fundamentalism, not of
the VHP kind, but by Muslim Bangldeshi migrants. In fact, earlier it fully
cooperated with the BJP in the arrest of SIMI activists in that State. In other
words the CPM is not opposed to such a draconian laws, it only desires the
monopoly of its use, while its opposition at the Centre is more to make
political (voting) capital out of the issue. It also treats all the nationality
movements and revolutionary movements as "anti-national". The POCO is framed on
the lines of the Maharashtra anti-terrorist law drawn up by the existing
Congress-led coalition government.
Steps towards Growing
Fascisation
Whether it is POTO or
POCO, these are nothing but steps towards greater fascisation of the polity of
the country. The revisionists, who cry themselves hoarse about the fascistic BJP,
are themselves party to the growing fascism in the country. But this is not
merely a local phenomenon. There is a worldwide trend to introduce fascist
legislation in the name of fighting ‘terrorism’.
In fact, on Sept.28
the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution requiring member states
to undertake comprehensive measures to deal with terrorism. This has already
been done by most of the developed countries, particularly America and Britain.
Utilizing the pretext of the Sept. 11 attack the rulers throughout the world
seek to crush the growing discontent of the masses in the wake of the worldwide
recession. In these conditions of acute recession there is mass impoverisation
and the ruling classes will seek to cushion their crisis by attacking the living
standards of the masses. Even in a country like America, companies continue to
resort to massive retrenchment, in the face of falling profits. The drop in
living standards is leading to growing discontent of the masses, which will be
crushed by increasingly fascist methods.
POTO, POCO, MCOCA (Maharashtra),
KCOC (Karnataka), APCOC (Andhra Pradesh), etc. are all a part of this trend. No
ruling class party, whether in power or in opposition, will genuinely fight this
trend. It is only the mobilization of the masses on a large scale that will be
able to effectively fight back the present onslaught. No doubt the increasing
dogfights amongst the ruling-class parties will result in various contradictory
policies — like, say opposition to POTO. But, in the final analysis, they are
all for the policies of ‘economic reforms’; and growing fascism are a part of
that package deal. The BJP is more aggressive about it, but the others do not
lag far behind. In AP, the so-called secular TDP of Chandrababu Naidu is no less
fascistic. But, it is the Sangh Parivar that is more equipped to wield the
fascist stick, compared to the other ruling-class parties.
Recently, on Dusshera,
the RSS openly gave a call to arm themselves with weapons. The fascists are
unable to fight the growing discontent of the masses even with their most
draconian legislations, so they are also building up their storm troopers. To
face this onslaught it requires not only mass mobilization but also the armed
strength of the masses. This can only take place under revolutionary leadership.
There is need for the widest section of the masses to be mobilized against POTO
in particular, and growing fascism generally, with the revolutionaries in the
vanguard.
The positive aspect
is that there has been all-round opposition and condemnation of POTO. Workers,
peasants, students, intellectuals, lawyers, journalists, teachers, women’s
groups, Muslim organizations, and civil liberties organizations have all
demonstrated against POTO. It is the rising tempo of such a wide mass movement
that alone can prevent such draconian legislation from being used against the
people. The time has come to throw POTO, POCO, and all such legislations in the
States into the garbage can.
Nov.5, 2001
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