Organisations & Individuals in Mumbai Plan Protest against POTO

A preparatory meeting was held in Mahatma Phule Hall (Moghul House) on Saturday 10th November to discuss the situation arising out of growing fascism and war mongering in India in the aftermath of terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11and the US led War against Afghanistan.

The following is a brief report of the same:

Ø About 25 individuals and 6 organisations (Lok Raj Sangathan, SUCI, Sarva Shramik Sangh, All India Anti Imperialist Forum, Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha and Communist Ghadar Party) participated in the discussion.

Ø More than fifty organisations and individuals including Justice Suresh, Justice Daud, Prof Dalip Singh, M.A. Rane, Sadanand Varde, Prof Uday Mehta, expressed their desire to participate in broad actions against war mongering and fascism but expressed their inability to attend the Nov 10th meeting.

Ø They also expressed their desire that to effectively oppose attacks on the democratic and working class movement there should be large joint actions rather than smaller individual actions.

It was noted that the central government in its eagerness to participate in the Bush-Blair led war against terrorism is creating a tense situation in the country. Already people distributing leaflets and putting up posters expressing dissent over the war in Afghanistan are being harassed in Delhi, Mumbai and other places. Our right to express dissent through meetings and demonstration are also being curbed by declaring ban on assembly under Section 144. For example six students were arrested in Delhi and charged with sedition for distributing leaflets and putting up posters opposed to the war. Similarly when several organisations gathered on Oct 1, near Lower Parel station to take out a morcha, the police stopped them from doing the same. And now on Oct 25, 2001 the government has passed an ordinance, Prevention Of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), which is even more draconian than the hated TADA.

As we all know there is a whole history in India of using such draconian laws like the Preventive Detention Act in 40s and 50s, Defence of India Rules in the 60s, Maintenance of Internal Security Act during the emergency in 1975, National Security Act in 1979 and then TADA in 1987, against democratic dissent, trade union activists and political opponents of the ruling party.

For example the MISA was used by Mrs Indira Gandhi against all her political opponents including Jai Prakash Narain, Morraji Desai, Vajpayee, Advani, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, George fernandes, and leaders of DMK, Akali Party, CPM, CPI (ML) and so on besides jailing thousands of trade union leaders and other democratic persons.

Similarly NSA was used in Bombay alone against Dr Datta Samant, four leaders of tata Oil Mills, four leaders of Textile Workers and so on.

Further TADA was used against Justice Ajit Singh Bains former judge of the Punjab High Court, Prof Dalip Singh, former vice principal of Khalsa College, Mumbai and over seventy thousand people including students protesting rise in milk price in Gujarat and workers who were on strike in Reliance Textile mill at Ahmedabad.

Clearly these were not terrorists or anti-national people and such laws have become tools in the hands of the ruling party to brow beat all democratic dissent and all its political opponents.
POTO goes a step ahead and makes confessions in police stations, taped and wire tapped conversations and so on as admissible evidence besides over nine months of incarceration without trial or bail on mere suspicion and no proof or conviction.

There are several other measures in the ordinance, which will be used against the democratic movement and political opponents besides banning organisations on ideological grounds.
Section 3 of POTO defines a "Terrorist Act" as acts done by using weapons and explosive substances or other methods in a manner as to cause or likely to cause death or injuries to any person or persons or loss or damage to property or disruption of essential supplies and services etc. with intent to threaten the unity or integrity of India or to strike terror in any section of the people. Such a definition has been made despite the recommendations of the Law Commission, which had framed an earlier version of POTO that any anti-terrorist act should explicitly exclude the actions of trade unions and political mass movements from its purview. The Law Commission had taken this stand in the face of widespread concern expressed from all quarters as to the manner TADA was primarily used against political opponents and the mass movement of various sections of the people. POTO enables the Central and State governments to legalise the outlawing of the growing opposition of all sections of the Indian people against the economic, political and international policy of the Indian government. Notwithstanding all the protests of various apologists of POTO, this is the main reason for going against the recommendations of the law commission and incorporation of nebulous terms such as "other methods" and "disruption of essential supplies and services". For this count alone, POTO needs to be defeated.

POTO defines "terrorist organisations" as an organisation that indulges in "terrorist acts" and provides for their ban. The definition of a terrorist act includes anyone indulging in acts that threaten "national unity and territorial integrity of India". Twenty three organisations have been banned under POTO in the first list with promises of more to come. The government does not have to justify why it has declared such and such organisation as "terrorist". The list of organisations banned includes various organisations, particularly from the North East, which have been waging an armed struggle for self-determination and can scarcely be termed "terrorist" except under the definition of terrorist provided by POTO, namely of being a threat to "national unity and territorial integrity of India". Successive governments at the centre have for a long time been raising the spectre of the threat to national unity and territorial integrity in order to justify armed repression of the popular mass movements in the border regions of India. They have failed to address the economic, social and political concerns of the people of these regions, fostering further alienation amongst the peoples. POTO marks an escalation in the violence of the Indian state against the alienated peoples of Kashmir and the North East. For this reason too, POTO must be opposed and repealed!

POTO allows the government and police forces to arrest and charge anyone with terrorism. The onus of proving that he or she is not a "terrorist", not a member of a "terrorist organisation", or not knowingly encouraging "terrorism" through various means falls on the accused. Statements of the accused made before police officers in police custody are admissible as evidence against the accused. POTO allows use of tape recordings, video clippings, intercepted electronic messages, telephone calls as so-called evidence against the accused. In other words it allows the prosecution to "prove" its case against the accused by allowing it to manufacture evidence through tortures and other dubious means including doctoring of evidence electronically.

The accused cannot be released on personal bond or bail by the magistrate in the absence of approval of the prosecuting authority, the government. POTO allows a person to be locked up in police custody for a period of three months and in judicial custody for 6 months simply because the prosecution has not yet prepared a charge sheet. After the charge sheet is presented, POTO allows the government to send the accused to jail as a POTO detainee, unless the government as already stated approves of the release of the person on bail! POTO thus constitutes an outright fascist attack on the democratic rights and civil liberties and the right to conscience of Indians.

It is also known that real terrorists are rarely card carrying members of any organisation or having bank accounts etc So clearly the intentions of the government despite all the noise about "safe guards" are highly suspect. In fact LK Advani, Union Home Minister has openly declared that those who do not support POTO are on the side of terrorists even using the same language as George Bush that those who do not support America in its war are supporters of terrorism.

Ø This ordinance is coming up for discussion during the coming winter session of the parliament starting from November 19, 2001.

Ø BJP, the leader of the ruling NDA coalition sensing wide spread opposition and even from some of its allies has declared Nov 18 as the Anti-Terrorism Day and in support of POTO.

Ø It was noted in the meeting that these two events demand an immediate response through a Public Meeting against POTO by democratic forces even though time for mobilisation and preparation is short and there is Diwali in the intervening period.

Ø So it was decided to start a campaign with a Public Meeting in a hall on Sunday, Nov 18, 2001 to be followed by a summing up meeting by all participating organisations and individuals on Nov 19 to plan a bigger protest at a later date.

Ø It was also decided that while POTO is an immediate issue to rally the democratic forces, there is a need for a broad Democratic Coalition against War mongering and Fascism keeping aside any ideological or political differences.

Your feedback to the ideas expressed and participation in the coming public meeting on Nov 18, 2001 is strongly solicited.

For information and comments please contact:

Shivanand Kanavi, email: [email protected]