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Journalism of Courage
The Congress and the BJP locked horns in the Lok Sabha today, on the issue of the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).
BJP MP Laxman Singh refuted allegations that POTA was draconian and that it targeted a minority community: ‘‘Till now, 60,000 people have been victims of terrorism in this country and in Jammu and Kashmir, mostly Muslims are killed. It was POTA that brought the situation under control and its repeal will mean that there would again be a rise of terrorism.”
Madhusudan Mistry of the Congress supported the repeal of POTA. ‘‘In Gujarat, innocent people are still being harassed by using POTA. Has anyone who led the killing mobs been arrested under the POTA? Any one of those ministers who took over the control rooms when the riots were taking place — have they been arrested?’’ he said. The discussion remained inconclusive, as the House took up the private members bills.
The House passed the amendment to the Central Excise Tariff Act. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said exports are rising by 25 pc and that this amendment would help improve the situation: ‘‘There is an eight-digit classification in Customs, so it was necessary to make it in excise too. This brings transparency and helps better trade.”
