Sunday, January 11, 2009

Badal backs India’s black law curtailing human rights:- Sikh Press Network

NEW DELHI: It takes real ingenuity and shameless pursuit of politics when the Khalsa panth's stance on a crucial matter like vesting New Delhi with ever more powers in the name of tackling terrorism and enacting laws that grossly violate human rights matches the rhetoric of Gujarat mass killer Narendra Modi but Akali Dal patron and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is seen siding with the opposite camp.

Grossly miscalculating the extent of his blunder, Badal, at a conclave of the Chief Ministers in India on Tuesday, strongly advocated the proposed National Investigating Agency (NIA), spoke against the Maoists across India as a law and order problem, and used the occasion to get even more powers, money and benefits for police.

Compare this with what Gujarat CM and a much reviled man Narendra Modi told the conclave. He said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was "contrary to our federal spirit" and an attempt at "sidetracking" the states.

Badal may have stayed out of touch with the people's movements and notion of human right and in his eagerness not to annoy New Delhi at a time when his entire attention is focussed on passing on the baton to sonny Sukhbir Badal, but others at the federal meet talked of the "federal" chasm between Centre and states.

Modi, who no doubt has been demanding a POTA-like anti-terror law and will not be caught dead defending the cause of human rights except that of Sadhvi Pragya or the killers of Gujarat's Muslims, did little to make his opposition any more clear, but it was Badal whose conduct shocked the Sikh community worldwide.

Most Sikh organisations have opposed the new law that gives more teeth to those who care little about human rights at a time when the national fervour is being whipped up to either attack Pakistan or back up fake encounters or not allow the right to legal help for anyone accused of terror activity. Many socialite society voices from India have been uttering fascist propaganda and wanted India to attack a neighbouring country immediately "without losing a minute." Human Rights organisations all over the world have condemned India's new law.

But Badal, who was expected to show more statesmanship as he represented a state that saw not only militant activity but massive levels of state terrorism, misuse of powers by police in a surcharged atmosphere and extra-judicial killings, had a different tune to sing that was music to the ears of both Congress and the RSS-BJP.

Ignoring the allegations that Punjab was almost a police governed state where senior police officers have often refused to carry out the orders of even the Chief Minister and elected representatives lived in the fear of the uniformed men, Badal made no mention of stemming undue police interference but asked for Rs 300 crore for modernization of state police machinery.

Without any provocation or even an allegation, Badal said the drug mafia and smugglers were indulging in illegal trafficking of arms and ammunition and creating an atmosphere of unrest and insurgency in Punjab. He called the people's struggles going on in many parts of India as "left wing extremism".

Thankfully, the young recently anointed CM from Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah warned against misuse of anti-terror laws and said the country could "ill-afford" to make mistakes like the ones that came with TADA and POTA. It was left to him to remind the gathering about the importance of "human rights".

Badal may have stayed out of touch with the people's movements and notion of human right and in his eagerness not to annoy New Delhi at a time when his entire attention is focussed on passing on the baton to sonny Sukhbir Badal, but others at the federal meet talked of the "federal" chasm between Centre and states.

PM Manmohan Singh used the occasion to project himself as a tough-talker, called Pakistan the main sponsor of terrorism against India and tried to bury his own "Pakistan is a victim of terrorism" formulation framed in September 2006.

Many Punjab experts would feel that Badal dumped the legacy of the struggle for more rights for the states but a number of other Chief Ministers, including some from NDA-ruled states and the Left party CMs, raised issues of powers of the states being infringed upon by the Centre.

In fact, at one stage, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was forced to say that "If required, we will be prepared to carry out necessary amendments or frame appropriate rules to address the concerns identified." Many of the laws being enacted either intruded into the domain of the states.

It was left to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to demand that the NIA be barred from taking up any case not relating to terrorism without the consent of the state. "It appears recent spurt in terrorist activities has led the Centre to rush through various legislations without adequate consultation with state governments," he said.

West Bengal CM Buddadeb Bhattacharjee made it clear that the NIA was not in sync with the "federal nature" of Centre-state relations.

9 January 2009


http://www.sikhpress.com

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