Politics key to India's anti-terror moves

Home Minister Advani has been pilloried over the anti-terror ordinance

By Mark Tully

The Indian government has issued a draconian ordinance giving the police sweeping powers to combat terrorism.

The ordinance has been widely criticised by the opposition as anti-Muslim but the ruling party hopes to extract political mileage from it.

With India signing up for the global war against terrorism it might seem to be justified in tightening its own laws against that menace but the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance which has just been promulgated has been bitterly attacked by human rights activists, the press and all opposition parties.

One party which is a member of the ruling coalition has also condemned the ordinance.

It has been condemned because it breaches the human rights which India as a democracy has traditionally upheld.

The President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties has described the provisions as, "giving the executive vast discretion to invade every right, including free speech, association, assembly and free movement."

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The ordinance is a particular threat to journalists who will be liable to prosecution if the authorities feel they have any information which they should have passed on to the police.

Even with these powers it is by no means certain that the ordinance will have much impact on the wars against terrorism that India is fighting in Kashmir in the North West, in Assam and other states in the North East, and in pockets of several other states too.

An earlier draconian anti-terrorist act was withdrawn, not just because of the protests of human rights activists, but also because it did not prove particularly effective in securing convictions for terrorism.

An editorial in the daily Business Standard opposing the new ordinance has described the conviction rate under the earlier act as "abysmal."

The ordinance anyhow would seem to be a futile gesture because, on present showing, it is bound to be thrown out when the Government brings it to Parliament for ratification.

The parties which have declared their opposition to the ordinance should be able to muster up a majority in the Upper House.

So why is India's powerful Home Minister L.K.Advani allowing himself to be pilloried by the press, human rights activists, and politicians, even some in alliance with him?

The answer is politics.

Within a few months Advani's Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, has to face elections in the vast state of Uttar Pradesh. The BJP is in power there and to say that its government has not been particularly successful would be a considerable understatement.

If, as a result of this lackluster record, the BJP lose the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election it will be a major blow to their prestige which could undermine the coalition of uncertain allies they head in Delhi.

Win-win situation

The BJP has just held a meeting of its national executive at which it became clear that "the fight against terrorism" was going to be the issue they hoped would detract attention from their record in office.

Advani suggested that whatever happened to the ordinance they were in a win-win situation when he said: "If the opposition opposes the ordinance they will be wittingly or unwittingly helping terrorists."

The BJP has a not very well concealed agenda too.

Much of the party's support comes from upper caste Hindus and the BJP believes the ordinance will be popular with them because it will be interpreted as anti-Muslim.

The party will not worry that the ordinance will probably be implemented as an anti-Muslim ordinance too.

Unfortunately the Indian police have a record of misusing emergency powers to make arbitrary arrests and extort money for the release of those they take into custody.

Unfair stereotypes

India's Muslims are the likely to be worst affected by the ordinance

So long as the ordinance remains law there is a danger it will be misused to victimize Muslims and so heighten their resentment and sense of insecurity.

India's Muslims already feel they are being unfairly stereotyped as supporters of terrorism.

The weekly news magazine Outlook has quoted a lecturer at Uttar Pradesh's historic Aligarh Muslim University as complaining, "The psychology of this government is wherever they see Muslims they see terrorists."

The BJP may think that's no bad thing but with the second largest Muslim population in the world India needs to be reassuring that community not threatening it.

So it's to be hoped that Advani's ordinance will be short-lived.