UPA govt going soft on terror: Shahnawaz

New Delhi, Apr 28: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today announced that all those members who wanted to bring cut motions during the discussion on demand for grants on the Home Ministry should submit within 15 minutes their notices mentioning the number against whom it is being submitted.

Initiating the discussion, Mr Shahnawaz Hussain (BJP) criticised the UPA Government for going soft on militant and extremist organisations by removing POTA.

He said that had, in fact, encouraged the anti-national organisations and they had now started thinking that India was a soft target country where they could do anything and get away from the clutches of law.

He said his party recently raised the issue of one such incident when Pakistan's national flag was not only raised by them in the Kashmir valley, but they also staged a anti-national demonstration and the Government was sitting idle over the incident.

He said the situation was similar in the North-East where Naxals and Maoists had chalked out a ''Red Corridor'' plan stretching from Pashupati Nath Temple to Tirupati passing through the Naxal infected States of Jharkhand, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and the House was fully aware of that as one of its members had been shot dead in Jharkhand.

He said those organisations were frequently carrying out operations in neighbouring West Bengal and Bihar and the Centre only remained a mute spectator.

He said the Government's action should convey a message to the armed forces which should encourage their morale to fight for the integrity and sovereignty of the country.

He said a sum of Rs 1645 crore asked in the name of modernisation of the Central paramilitary forces was inadequate as it was not going to provide them with important life saving bulletproof jackets and instead it would be spent on providing boots and vehicles.

He said each action of the Government should convey a message to those anti-national elements that India was a tough country and it would not be possible for them to get away after committing heinous crimes.

Participating in the discussion, Mr Madhusudan Mistry (Cong) said that BJP in order to save its face from public criticism in view of the recent happenings in Gujarat had put forth a minority person (Mr Hussain) to speak on the party's behalf on this issue.

This statement of Mr Mistry led to a heated exchanges between the opposition BJP and treasury bench members.

The Speaker had to intervene, saying, '' Nothing will go on the record except what Mr Mistry had to say'' and only after that did the members stop their verbal duel.

Mr Mistry questioned the BJP whether POTA was not in place when the Akshardham temple in Gujarat and the Parliament House were attacked and what action they took against them.

Senior Marxist member Mohammed Salim asked the government to take steps to ensure that a particular community was not targeted in the name of terrorism. ''Terrorism is a global scourge and, therefore, it should not be seen through a narrow prism.'' Referring to the Opposition expressed by some organisations to Hindus marrying Muslims, he wondered how there was no problem when some top leaders of the Sangh Parivar had entered into such an alliance.

''It seems they could not tolerate this when this is done by the common people,'' Mr Salim said, warning the BJP against dividing the people on communal lines and thereby threatening the unity of the country.

Speaking at length about the Maoist insurgency in some parts of the country, he regretted that some parties were trying to derive political mileage on this front also.

Calling for strong measures to contain Naxalism, Mr Salim maintained that the Maoist insurgency was the ''evil face'' of the Naxalite movement which had its genesis in the northern part of West Bengal.

Samajwadi Party member Ramjilal Suman said the Centre should extend all assistance to states to tackle terrorism and Naxalism.

In this context, he pointed out that 165 districts in 20 states were affected by terrorism and Naxalism.

Mr Suman said the Centre should inquire into reports about terrorists getting money through banks from outside the country. The intelligence set-up should be made more effective to locate all the foreign nationals who were staying illegally in the country.

Referring to the arrests of three police officers in Gujarat on charge of killing a person in a fake encounter in 2005, he suggested that the Centre should create a mechanism to verify the antecedents of encounters taking place in the country.

''If this is not done, the people will lose faith in the state and system,'' he said, asking, ''how could a state become an instrument of killing peace loving people by terming them terrorists?'' Mr Giridharlal Yadav (RJD) complained that the police personnel were afraid of visiting Naxalite-dominated areas. Under such a situation, people were forced to join the Naxal movement for want of security from a state.

He said the government should take measures to reduce economic disparity and put in place land reforms, besides improving literacy level and increasing employment opportunities of the people in backward areas, especially in tribal belts.

Mr Yadav pointed out that there was rampant corruption among police personnel and also in their transfers and postings. ''We should ensure that the people are not exploited by corrupt police personnel.''

Mr Iliaz Azmi (BSP) said Muslims were unsafe not only in Gujarat, but elsewhere in the country as well, be it Maharashtra or Uttar Pradesh, as they were increasingly becoming victims of fake encounters and other forms of harassment and being branded as Lashker-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed activists. An inquiry should be ordered into every encounter, he said.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil promptly denied Mr Azmi's charges and said it would be have been better if the member had been more responsible. Such accusations would not help create communal harmony.

Mr Suresh Prabhu (Shiv Sena) called for a total revamp of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and acceleration of the citizen identity card programme. He also demanded the setting up of a Konkan Development Board.

Mr Sugrib Singh (BJD) demanded more funds for Orissa for dealing with Naxalism.

Mr Ajoy Chakraborty (CPI) said Naxalism and terrorism could be tackled only through land reforms, poverty alleviation and employment generation and not through the barrel of the gun. India should have friendly relations with all its neighbours.

Ms Maneka Gandhi (BJP) bitterly criticised the police forces, depricating observations that there were black sheep in every profession.

She said police were the principal violators of law, most of the complaints registered with the National Human Rights Commission were against them, they were anti-social, rude and abusive and treated the victims like culpripts, were corrupt, not only unable to prevent crime but also utterly poor in investigation and had no knowledge of the law.

These attributes were not an exception but characterised the very nature of the police force, she said, citing a number of recent cases within her constituency (Philibit, Uttar Pradesh).

Mr Nikhil Kumar (Cong) praised the handling of the situation in Kashmir by the security forces which he said had resulted in bringing about a marked improvement in the scenario, so much so that the people there were now bold enough to call for removal of the forces from the state. This had been made possible without the use of any draconian law there, he said, and complimented the Union Home Minister and the UPA Government for this. The country's security forces were maintaining harmony in the country, he said, adding India's security forces were second to none in the world in the performance of their duty.

Mr Kumar called for a system to be developed for the periodic assessment of the police by a non-police agency, which should include the Leader of the Opposition and a retired High Court Judge. Calling for big reforms in the police system, he said this was not possible without implementing the Model Police Act.

Prof K M Kadermohideen (DMK) hailed the Union Government for sharp reduction in cases of communal violence in the country. He also had a word of praise for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for initating process of dialogue with those who are cut off from the mean stream of the national life. He called for a change in the attitude and thinking of the police, who, he said should be more humane in their approach.

Prof Kadermohideen said those involved in fake police encounters should be removed forthwith.

Former Union Minister Satyanarain Jatiya (BJP) said the UPA Government had failed to tackle extremists and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, North-Eastern states and other areas despite having full security apparatus at its disposal. He said several suggestions had come up at the meeting the Prime Minister had with Home Ministers on police reforms three-four months back but the government was yet to initiate any action on them.

Mr Rameshwar Oraon (Cong) congratulated the government for significantly improving the situation on the internal security front.

While talking about modernisation of the police force, he said even if the Centre was providing funds for the welfare of the policemen to the states, the amount was not being spent for the purpose.

He also wanted that the sixth pay commission should also consider increase in salaries of policemen which would go a long way to curb corruption in the force.

Mr Prabhunath Singh (JD-U) expressed concern over increased activities of Naxals, Maoists and terrorists in various parts of the country and called for setting up a separate force to tackle the situation.

He also suggested that even if the Government had a soft-approach towards extremist elements, it must give a free hand to the security forces to tackle the situation. ''It is not good for the country to make hue and cry on any innocent killing by police while dealing with terrorists and other secessionist elements,'' he said.

Mr Singh also criticised the tendency among the political parties to politicise the issue in the name of Hindu or Muslim organisations.

Mr Hiten Barman (Forward Bloc) highlighted the problems of the north-eastern region and said several issues still remained unresolved between India and Bangladesh, even after the 1974 Indira-Mujib agreement. ''It was still not clear who had control over the Teen Bigha despite the accord,'' he pointed out.

Mr Yerran Naidu, TDP, however deplored the internal security scenario which was ''deteriorating day by day''. Pakistan, he said, was still abetting the terrorists from across the border.

Besides, Mr Naidu said, there was increase in naxalite, Maoist and secessionist activities in various parts of the country which, he said, was mainly because of lop-sided development and non-implementation of schemes for the welfare of the people.

Ms Mehbooba Mufti (PDP) demanded that troops be withdrawn gradually from the civilian areas of Kashmir where the security situation was improving, and replaced by local police. She also spoke strongly against fake encounters, which she claimed had become a norm. Mrs Tejaswini Seeramesh (Cong), however, spoke against the withdrawal of troops from Kashmir.

Mr Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) charged the government with adopting a soft attitude towards Hindu terrorists, and alleged that the Hindus were arrested under the Arms Act while the Muslims were arrested under the draconian TADA and POTA. He also wanted to know why only a handful of Muslims were recruited in RAW and SPG.

Mr Kirip Chaliha (Cong) asked for the constitution of a commission of inquiry to look into the naxal problem.

Dr H T Sangliana (BJP) said a national security policy should be formulated that should incorporate internal security, including border security, besides security against insurgents naxalites and maoists, and religious harmony and national integration.

Mr Sarbananda Sonowal (AGP) said illegal migrants posed serious threat to the socio-political setup of Asom, and they should be identified and deported back to Bangladesh. He urged the Centre to implement the assurance given during the tripartite talks, and complete fencing on Indo-Bangladesh border.

Mr Konyak Wangyuh (NPF) said Nagas should not be treated as extremists, but people fighting for their rights.

Mr Tapir Gao (BJP) said a strong political will should be adopted to solve the Naga issue.

Mr Debrath Singh (Cong), in his maiden speech, said the activities of Salva Judum, an anti-naxal body, was unconstitutional, and should be stopped immediately.

UNI