NEW DELHI: Indian Home Minister Amit Shah today declared that there should be stringent laws against terrorism as the Government’s primary aim is to wipe out the terror even as the Lok Sabha approved amendments in Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) under which an individual can be declared as terrorist.
“Activists who help terrorists, should be labeled as terrorists or not”? Shah asked the members in the Lok Sabha as he strongly defended amendments in the anti-terror law and said that all those who indulge in terrorist activities, should be labeled as a terrorist. A terrorist, he said, has violence in his mentality. “It’s not about how many terrorist organizations are banned. Terrorists have to be stopped to stop terrorism.”
Asserting that no matter which side of the House one sits, they are against terrorism, Shah said the laws to deal with terrorists should be stringent. He told the House that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had brought this law and the present Government has just come out with amendments.
“Time has come for the global community to take up the fight against terrorism in right earnest. We have given the NIA power only for cases over which it has jurisdiction. When it comes to an anti-terror fight, we should rise above party politics,” the Home Minister said and reminded the Opposition members that the law was brought by the UPA and if the federal structure has been spoiled, it has been spoiled by the UPA.
Reiterating the zero tolerance policy of the Modi Government against terrorism, Shah said the objective of the proposed amendments is to facilitate speedy investigation and prosecution of terror offences and designating an individual as terrorist in line with the international practices.
“An individual’s psychology is the birth place of terrorism, rather than an institution. If, in the first place, an individual is stopped from attracting other individuals into terrorism by providing ideological and financial support, this menace can be finished,” he said.
Hence, designating an individual as terrorist, after following the due process of law, is of “prime importance” to nip terrorism in the bud, he added.