Pass a law harsher than POTA to fight terror : Malhotra

New Delhi, Dec 5 (UNI) Senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra today expressed concern over increasing terrorist incidents, and asked the government to enact a law which is stricter than the POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act).

Raising a short-duration discussion in the Lok Sabha on internal security situation in the country, he came down heavily on the UPA government for abolishing the POTA, which was enacted by the previous BJP-led NDA government in the absence of any comprehensive counter-terrorism legislation.

''The UPA government does not have the will to deal effectively with terrorism,'' Mr Malhotra, who is also the Deputy Leader of the BJP Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha, said, pointing out that the UPA government had abolished POTA when other countries were passing legislations to fight terrorism.

Saying that terrorism had so far claimed 70,000 lives over the years in the country, Mr Malhotra alleged that the abolition of POTA by the government was nothing but ''vote bank politics''.

He questioned the claim of the government that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir had improved, and said there would be problem again once the political situation in Pakistan stabilised.

Mr Malhotra alleged that madrasas were coming up in border areas using funds from non-banking sources.

In this context, he called for steps to monitor the activities of madrasas, against the backdrop of allegations that the seminaries were sheltering Pakistan's ISI elements.

Mr Malhotra demanded more effective steps to ensure greater monitoring of terror funding, and said the Al Qaeda had been spreading its tentacles.

He asked the government to take coordinated steps with the states to deal effectively with the menace of naxalism, which has already spread in 180 out of 604 districts in the country.

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