POTA being replaced religion based Quota to divide country: BJP

New Delhi, Nov 28 (UNI) The Opposition today charged the government with trying to divide people of the country on the basis of religion by ''replacing POTA with Quota on the basis of religion'' and said that this would only encourage separatism and terrorism.

Participating in the short duration discussion on Internal Security of the Country, BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that government's soft and unclear stand on terrorism was not in favour of the national security as it posed a grave danger to the country.

''Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf, sitting in the factory of terrorism, is demanding India should give evidence of his country's involvement in terror in this country and our goverment says that it has no clinching evidence. This shows that the government has bowed to their demands which is not in the interest of the country,'' he said.

Mr Naqvi said that the UPA government's policies include counting of Muslims in armed forces and terrorists, resulting in Muslims of the country feeling apprehensive that they could be termed as militants belonging to Al Queda and Jaish-e-Mohammad and put behind bars.

Asserting that the government has replaced ''POTA with Quota on the basis of religion,'' he said that it was meant to politically use one religion against another and not for the economic, social and political empowerment of Muslims. It would only encourage separatism and terrorism in the country, he pointed out.

Mr Rashid Alvi (Congress) however asserted that the security situation in Kashmir and North East has improved as indicated by the decreased numbers of violent incidents. Regarding naxalism, he said that since about 70 per cent of such incidents are happening some BJP-ruled states so they should first set, their own house in order.

Regarding the demand for the death penality to Parliament attack accused Mohammad Afzal Guru, he said that the President should be allowed to take his own decision and no pressure be put on him. He also wondered why the then NDA government had not filed any case against Maulana Masood Azhar, who was in captivity for five years, and instead took him to Kandhar.

However, Mr Alvi urged the government to implement Vohra Committee report which blamed the criminal-politician-bureaucrat nexus. He suggested that a high powered committee consisting of the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Lok Sabha Speaker and may be the Election Commissioner be formed which should debar people with criminal background from contesting Parliamentary and assembly elections.

Pointing out that misuse of POTA and TADA, he said they failed to safeguard people like Rajiv Gandhi, former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and the attack on Parliament. In fact that the review committee found that of the 1529 people booked in 263 cases of POTA, in 1006 no prima facie case could be made, he noted.

More UNI AJ VD GC1612