By TwoCircles.net news desk,
Bangalore: The Popular Front of India has demanded the withdrawal of the proposed amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act which reinstate provisions of the repealed black laws TADA and POTA.
“The proposed amendments will give excessive power to the police to extend custody of the accused to 180 days, place the proof of innocence on the accused if he is armed and permit the Government to seize assets of any organization suspected of terror links,” said E M Abdul Rahiman, General Secretary, Popular Front of India.
As happened earlier with regard to TADA and POTA, these provisions will definitely lead to denying due process of law and prevent fair trial and delivery of justice to the innocents, said Rahiman adding that the only matter of relief is that the confessions before a police officer are not included as an admissible proof in the amendments.
“It is not surprising that BJP is not fully satisfied with the amendments. Still we have reasons to believe that the UPA government has succumbed to their long standing agenda to bring back black laws which they could use against minorities” he said in a statement.
The party also does not see the constitution of a National Investigation Agency as a positive attempt. “The proposal to give the Centre power over the state in law and order matters goes against the spirit of federalism. The hearings to be done in-camera and closed to the public will affect the transparency of the trial procedure,” Rahiman added.
Popular Front of India has called upon all secular political parities of the country to concentrate “on building unity of the people against external aggressions and not to become a party to enacting black laws which could ultimately end up in terrorizing our own citizens.”