STUDY OF THE ANTI – TERROR LAWS OF INDIA AND THE CRIMINAL ASPECTS OF TERRORISM IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD
ABSTRACT
This article highlights the issue of terrorism and discussing and understanding about its reach across International borders. Today nobody is devoid of such an issue or no country is there whose land is free of such blunder and destruction of innocent lives , its target is no more limited to 1 religion or creed but it stands against the whole humanity or against every land where humanity survives , so for a better vision we all must extend our best possible insights to this problem and stand up for world peace. Principally this article is based on terrorist attacks taking place in India and how India tackles it and what are the Indian anti – terror legislations that deal with it.
Terrorism as Crime in India and Other Countries
Terror is something a truama of mind and body which ruins the lives of the innocents a long tale of threats to untimely and ultimate deaths.
INDIA
Growth of terrorism in Indian subcontinent is not a fresh start but it is a result of violent extremism which can be traced back from a religion centric partition in the year 1947 which divided the Indian motherland into two pieces known as present day nations of India and Pakistan.
After the Partition , the then Maharaja of J&K , Hari Singh formally acceded to India , however this act of accession has never been recognised by the Pakistan which lays claims to the Muslim Majority region. India views Pakistan as a perpetrator of continuosly on- going cross border conflicts and for sponsoring, harbouring and funding militant activities in a bid to destabilise the Indian state of J&K and other parts of the country . The POK which is the Pakistan occupied Kashmir is popular in Pakistan by the name of “Azad Kashmir” as there are claims defending that Pakistan being the Islamic population country can well take care of it and do justice with the region ‘s muslim majority population . However this a partial truth as the population in “ Azad Kashmir” wants to get free from the rule of Pakistan as they have witnessed various atrocities in post- partition era by the Government of Pakistan. Even Pakistan ‘s Provinces of Balochistan and Sindh have both in times and again demanded freedom or independence from the cruel rule of the Pakistan government as they doesnot treat them as their own people. The government of Pakistan has always been accused of engaging in repression of Balochs. Islamabad had reportedly detained thousands of Baloch Nationalists , denied their positions in government administrations , institutions and in military. The government is also accused of assassinating various democratic Baloch leaders.
At a long way India has experienced almost all forms of terrorists attacks:
- HIJACKING AND BLOWING UP OF AIRCRAFTS :
Blowing up : Air India Flight 182 , 1985
Hijacking up : Air India flight IC – 814 (1999),IC -423 (1981) & several others
2.SABOTAGING RAILWAY TRACKS :
Derailment of Indore – Patna express in Kanpur 2016
Ujjain train blast in Bhopal-Ujjain Passenger train 2017 and several deadliest
- KIDNAPPING HOSTAGES FOR MEETING POLITICAL DEMANDS
MUMBAI ATTACKS 26/11 , 2008
- SUICIDE ATTACKS
SUICIDE BOMB attack in Indian Kashmir 2019
- THE ASSASSINATION OF TWO OF ITS PM ‘S
INDIRA GANDHI ,1984
RAJIV GANDHI ,1991
6. ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP
2000-2001 AMARNATH PILGRIMAGE MASSACRE
2007 BOMB EXPLOSION AT THE SUFI SHRINE OF KHWAJA MOINUDDIN CHISHTI AT AJMER , RAJASTHAN
7. ATTACKS BOTH BY RELIGIOUS AND NON- RELIGIOUS TERRORIST GROUPS
- COMMUNAL RIOTS IN INDIA
CURRENTLY, THE UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION ) ACT , 1967 UAPA IS THE PRIMARYANTI- TERRORISM LAW IN FORCE IN INDIA.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
On a broad outlook the growth of terrorism in America identifies the same roots from Pakistan as same in the situation of India , whenever we heard of terrorism in America we connect ourselves to the deadliest attack of 9/11.
It was the case of a jihadist foreingn terrorist organisation which hails from Pakistan directing to take up a deadly attack inside the U.S.A. These groups have several training centres in Pakistan and abroad . These groups follows an agenda to earn a funding by conducting rallies in the name of “Allah” , those who claim to follow their disruptive thinking funs them to prosper and this scheme is followed up each time they require funds for humanly destruction.
Since 9/11, jihadists have killed 107 people inside the United States. The United States has also seen attacks in recent years inspired by black separatist/nationalist ideology and ideological misogyny.
The chief terrorist groups in Pakistan are as follows :
- Lashkar-e – Taiba
- Jaish-e-Mohammed
- Sipah-e-Sahaba
- Jaish ul-Adl
- Taliban (AFGHANISTAN , PAKISTAN )
- Lashakr-e-Jhangvi (AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN)
- Jaish-e-islam
- Haqqani Network (AFGHANISTAN,PAKISTAN)
- Jundallah ( AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN )
- Mujahideen Ansar
After this much terrorists organisations primarily working and operating in Pakistan nobody can’t deny that Pakistan offers a ‘’ safe heaven ‘’ for terrorists.
Now , let us know about the major Anti- Terror Laws of India or the Terror Laws of India . But before that we must know about whether there is any information or detail as to the provision of or definition of the word ‘Terrorism’ in the context of International Law . But unfortunately there is no such definition which prescribes or explains the conduct and acts comprising as acts of ‘Terrorism’.
- TADA Act (1987)
So, the very first anti- terror act on which we are going to have a discussion upon is the TADA Act which expands as ‘ TERRORIST AND DISRUPTIVE ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT, 1987 ’. This act came into force from the year 1987 and lapsed in the year 1995 . The main reason for the inauguration of this act was the then growing separatists movement in the Indian state of Punjab and the increased terrorism and related demand for the Khalistan.
The major drawbacks of this act were that this act or in a broad sense that the provisions of this act dealt in a overriding position with the significant provisions of Constitution of India and Criminal Procedure Code,1973. One such example for such overriding effect was that under this act that if there is a confession of a suspect (who is dealt under this act ) in front of a Police officer then it will be admissible as evidence in the court of law , which means that this act provides wide powers to the Police. And following by reduced safeguards as regards to grant of bail and enhanced power of the police to detain suspects.
- POTA , 2002
The ‘PREVENTION OF TERRORISM ACT , 2002’, the major reasons for the arrival of this particular anti- terror legislation were IC814 Kandahar Hijack (1999) , terrorist attack on World Trade Centre in New York city (2001) also known as the 9/11 attacks , and lastly the terrorist attack on Indian Parliament (2001).
The key highlights of this act are as follows ;-
- A suspect could be detained for up to 180 days which means for the duration of 6 months by a special court without any access to bail , this is the special power given to the police .
- The law made fundraising for the purpose of terrorism as a ‘terrorist act ’.
This act was consequently repealed in the year 2004 for the drawbacks generally comprising of wide misuse of the provisions of the act by the political parties in the states by threatening and putting on allegations on their rival other political parties and opponents that any political organization which is there for their concerned political party and the related fundraising falls under the ‘ terrorist act’ of the POTA act.
Now, after POTA we required a very powerful act with a wide coverage , so we had an existing act which is known to be as the ‘ UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT , 1967’, So government of India thought that it will be more favourable to revive this existing act inspite of bringing a new anti- terror legislation . So for that reason the amendments were done in the years of 2004, 2008( after Mumbai terrorist attack of 26/11) , 2012 and 2019 respectively.
UAPA is an anti – terror legislation whose enforcement agency is NIA (National Investigation Agency) which is also India ‘s Central Counter Terrorism Agency. This act increased the time available to law enforcement agencies to file a chargesheet to 6 months which was earlier 3 months with no right of bail during this whole period.
With the year 2012 amendment in the act , the definition of ‘terrorist act ’ was expanded to include offences that threaten economic security, counterfeiting of Indian currency , and procurement of weapons etc. This was done because in the year 2012 only India became the member of FATF which is Financial Action Task Force, it is a grouping established in the year 1989 for the purpose of preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.
And the latest amendment in the year 2019 is very much debatable as earlier under the definition of Who can do terrorism ? only organizations were included but by this amendment it included an individual too in its dimensions.
REFERENCES
2.https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/anti-terrorism-day-2021-india-and-the-impact-of-terrorism/2255499/
4.https://www.satp.org
5.https://www.indiacode.nic.in
6.https://en.m.wikipedia.org
Author: Riddhi Sharma,
CHANDERPRABHU JAIN COLLEGE OF HIGHER STUDIES AND SCHOOL OF LAW , AFFILIATED TO GGSIPU, DELHI (FINAL YEAR B.B.ALLB)