POTA repealed to appease Pakistan and terrorists:Rajnath

Patna, Apr 15 (UNI) BJP national president Rajnath Singh today said it was ''shameful'' that the UPA government at the Centre had repealed POTA to ''fulfil the demands of Pakistan Foreign minister Gauhar Ayub Khan and terrorist organisations''.

Talking to newspersons before resuming his Bharat Suraksha Yatra, Mr Singh said that the UPA government had abruptly repealed POTA without evolving any strong alternative law against terrorism. He claimed that the Pakistan Foreign Minister had demanded repeal of POTA in 2004 and the terrorist outfits too had the same opinion.

According to Mr Singh, the sudden step of the UPA government sent a message among the terrorists that the Centre was getting soft towards them.

Expressing concern over the growing terrorism in the country, Mr Singh said the weak policies of the UPA governmenmt were responsible for it.

He condemned yesterday's attack in Jammu and Kashmir and at Jama Masjid in New Delhi. He said the attack on Jama Masjid should not be viewed as a retaliatory action against the recent attacks in Varanasi. Only those who had given reservations on religion basis were co-relating such acts with a particular religion, he pleaded.

To another query he said it was a unanimous decision to release terrorists for the safety of the 250 passengers of the Indian Airlines flight which was hijacked and taken to Kandahar.

He termed terrorism as a ''cancer'' and said the disease needed to be treated properly.

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