Bury TADA-II

The National Human Rights Commission has pronounced the death sentence on the Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2000. Its impeccable examinatio...

The National Human Rights Commission has pronounced the death sentence on the Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2000. Its impeccable examination and decisive rejection of the Bill leaves the government with no leg to stand on. False prestige should not get in the way of doing the right and sensible thing now which is to bury TADA-II. The next step is not to try to resurrect the Bill by rewriting it but to abandon all attempt to pass a statute which is not necessary in practice and which severely curtails the civil rights of citizens. Here is a finding as plain as daylight; no one can have any difficulty understanding it. The NHRC says the job can be done without this law which has no place in a democracy. It would be self-defeating to ignore the NHRC8217;s unanimous view that the Bill ought not to be enacted into law. To fly in the face of a verdict which emphasises its undesirability and redundancy will surely damage the government8217;s credibility. Moreover, any move to push the Bill through is sure to be challengedbefore the NHRC and invite direct criticism of the government.

The overwhelming opinion in the law and home ministries is that TADA-II is a vital weapon in the battle against terrorism and, therefore, while its harsh features can be softened, the law as a whole cannot be done away with. Every piece of draconian legislation in the past has been justified on grounds of combating ruthless, sophisticated and well-organised terrorists. Open democratic societies, it is argued, are especially vulnerable to such adversaries and, distasteful though it is, compelled in extraordinary circumstances to arm themselves with draconian laws in order to defend themselves. The NHRC punctures these arguments. It confirms what civil rights activists have been saying all along. India does not lack legislation for dealing with the menace of terrorism; existing laws are more than adequate for the purpose. What fails is the machinery for implementing the law. Given this, the proper government response to the NHRC8217;s finding is to tighten up the machinery. The process should include eliminatingpolitical interference with police work. Equipping the guardians of law and order properly and ensuring they function efficiently by improving training, communications and information-gathering will have a major impact on terrorism as countries such as Israel, Britain, the US and Spain have found.

It is a common belief that the tougher the law the better crime prevention. That is a delusion. In fact, tough laws can often become an excuse for inertia. TADA became the easy way out for the police. Scores of people were held under it in many states around the country for months, even years, without well-founded cases being made against them. Meanwhile, scores of big offenders remain at large. What is worse, a sort of bureaucratic/institutional interest in TADA developed which ensured that it remained on the books well past the point when its ineffectiveness became evident and innumerable abuses committed in its name were brought to light. Too many lives have been blighted by that obnoxious law. India does not need to go down such a terrible road again. A democratic society must and can find better ways of dealing with its adversaries.