Wrong and against democratic principles

PM’s focus was on security, but his view of security, as seen from the claims and assertions that he made, is erroneous and undemocratic

Many ideas that Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forth at the Chintan Shivir of state home ministers at Surajkund in Haryana last week are wrong and militate against basic principles of democratic governance. The conclave of state home ministers was about internal security-related matters. So the Prime Minister’s focus was on security, but his view of security, as seen from the claims and assertions that he made, is erroneous and undemocratic. He said Naxalism has to be uprooted and went on to say that it was time to destroy “urban Naxals” and Maoists holding pens in order to “protect” the youth of the country from being misled. He said such people could harm the country’s unity and integrity and claimed that laws like the UAPA had strengthened the system in dealing with them.

The Prime Minister has not defined “urban Naxals” but his party’s leaders have referred to the critics of the government and those who protest against its policies as “urban Naxals”. Many of them have been hauled up under the draconian UAPA and thrown into jail and getting bail is extremely difficult, often impossible. But the fact that only about 3% of those thrown into jail are convicted shows how hollow the Prime Minister’s claim is. If the arrested people were a threat to national security 97 out of 100 of them would not have been found innocent by the courts. That only proves that the UAPA has been ineffective in strengthening the system as claimed by the Prime Minister, although it has been helpful for the ruling party to harass its critics. A number of them -- activists, academics, students and journalists -- have been victims of the law. Some of them, like journalist Siddique Kappan, student activists Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, have been given bail (though Kappan is still in jail in another case). Many others are fighting difficult battles to get bail. Many cannot afford to fight. The ailing octogenarian Stan Swamy died waiting for it.

The UAPA does not make the State stronger. It only weakens it because it weakens the normal law-and-order system based on constitutional norms and principles. It short-circuits the Constitution’s dictum that “no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law” with the help of patently undemocratic procedures. The State is strengthened by respect for the rights of citizens and adherence to democratic norms, not by draconian laws wielded with vengeance against critics. The UAPA, which takes away civil liberties and violates human rights, is actually a threat to the nation. India should abolish this draconian law in the interest of national security.