Congress opposes UAPA Bill, opposition fear violation of fundamental rights 

New Delhi: The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha by the home minister, Amit Shah, on Monday has attracted criticism from the opposition parties by calling it as a tool to violate the fundamental rights of citizens.

The government has introduced eight bills in the Lok Sabha within an hour. Apart from UAPA Bill and the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, the government has introduced the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019; Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019; Consumer Protection Bill, 2019; Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2019; Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019; and the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

The UAPA bill enables authorities to declare an individual as terrorist even if he is not associated with any organization or outfit.

Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor, while describing the UAPA Bill as ill-considered and hasty, has said that the act was not meant to use against individuals but to use against collectives.

Tharoor said, “If there is a lone-wolf terrorist, you have ample powers to arrest him. You have plenty of ways to deal with these people. You can seize their properties also.”

He said, “If it’s a global terrorist recognised by the UN security council, then you can incorporate them under the 2007 UN order. Why do you want to use the UAPA to declare an individual a terrorist?”

“Once a person is unilaterally declared a terrorist by the government, the burden is shifted on to the individual to prove his innocence. The organisation can do it; how can an individual do it? The minister did not undertake a public consultation as required under the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy, 2014,” Tharoor added.

Revolutionary Socialist Party MP from Kollam NK Premachandran too, while protesting the bill, said that the amendment is not only is a violation of the right to life and public liberty but also against the direction of the Supreme Court.

Junior home minister G Kishan Reddy supported the bill saying such provisions are needed to curb terrorism. He has also claimed that pre-legislative consultations had been done since 2016.

Similarly, the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill too drew protest from opposition leaders.

Congress House leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has condemned the bill saying it violets the fundamental right of the undertrial prisoners.

Chowdhury said, “It’s a mandatory provision which you have inserted into the bill. It is a flawed legislative document. It inadequately regulates the use of DNA (tests) in civil matters as it is silent on consent, storage and removal of profiles.”

Tharoor too, while supporting Chowdhury, talked about risks involved in the implementation of the bill including data profiling and the institution of a surveillance state against the ordinary person.

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