No POTA but must have QUOTA

Even as the gory images are being flashed on the television channels 24/7, there seems to be little headway in the investigation. It is not even clear what sort of explosives were used. There are theories about explosions occuring in the 4th compartment of each train. So, those who believe in mean reversion and want to get a seat, the 4th compartment could be your best bet from now on.

Meanwhile the PM issued a statement that POTA is not required.

Let's take a quick trip down the memory lane. POTA was no accident. In fact it was not even the first such law designed to fight terrorism in an effective manner.

In 1987, Rajiv Gandhi created TADA to deal with the Punjab situation.

In 1995, TADA was allowed to lapse by the P V Narasimha Rao government.

TADA was by all accounts a violent cousin of POTA. Over 75,000 people were detained under TADA over the years. Compare this to a mere 4,000 people detained (800 formally arrested) under POTA. Ironically, TADA would be most useful in prosecuting Rajiv Gandhi's assassins.

In 2001, following the 9/11 attacks, the Government comtemplated enacting special legislature. The POTO was enacted.

In June, 2002 following the ghastly parliament attacks, POTO was replaced by version 2, i.e. POTA.

Well, there is more.

In June, 2004, the very first thing the current Government did after coming to power was to repeal POTA.

In September 2004, the toothless Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was reenacted. This was an archaic law from 1967 to which some clauses were hastily added.

The truth remains that despite the huge communal spin given to special legislature in dealing with terrorism, various Governments always felt the need for such laws. The main reason for letting TADA lapse was the hue and cry raised by various human rights watch organizations. Meanwhile, our human rights records continue to be stellar. We have over 30 million cases pending in various courts across the country. Many people languish in jail for decades. See this recent report on women prisoners. Under the backdrop of such a dismal state of our law and order infrastructure, the utterly misplaced concerns about high-handedness in dealing with possible terrorists is cruel joke played on the victims of the blasts.

The current law is totally inadequate in dealing with terrorists. It does not have the provision to detain suspected terrorists for a long period of time, not does it have a component to deal with the financial aspects. The main purpose of such laws is to cut through bureaucratic crap. Imagine how effective it will be to use a combination of UAPA and FERA in chasing the money trail. There will be a myriad of agencies to deal with, lots of red tapes to cut.

Under the current political backdrop there is no hope of justice for the victims. Politicians are openly protecting suspect terrorist groups. Even before the echoes from the blast had died down, human rights watchers started raising hell. Who has the political will to proceed with the investigation?