Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

One-sided

Sir, — Your editorial, "Throw POTA out" ( Oct. 28 ), is one-sided. Security personnel and law enforcing agencies should have extraordinary powers to deal with extraordinary situations. Yes, there is misuse of such laws. But we should take measures to prevent misuse. Throwing out POTA is no solution. If we apply the same logic, weapons should not be issued to security forces as their misuse will kill innocent people.

Col. (retd.) V. Ramachandran,
Tirunelveli, T.N.

* * *

Sir, — You have highlighted Gujarat and Maharashtra "which have targeted Muslims", without going into the basic reason for such violent eruptions there. And you are rather sarcastic about Tamil Nadu being the most eloquent champion of POTA and point out that it "became the first to arrest a journalist under the Act". Is a law not applicable to everyone?

R. Thiruvengadam,
Chennai

* * *

Sir, — The ordinance amending POTA has not answered the doubts raised over the efficacy of the Act. Fali Nariman has hit the nail on the head by saying it is a gimmick. The Government, which wants to wriggle out of the mess created by POTA, has come out with a half-baked solution that pleases neither its critics nor its proponents. The real solution to the problem lies only in the repeal of the Act.

T.S. Padmanabhan,
Chennai

* * *

Sir, — Instead of terrorising the terrorists, POTA has become a handy tool to settle political rivalries.

M. Nagu,
Chennai

* * *

Sir, — We are yet to shed our colonial outlook. Immediately after Independence, we enacted the Preventive Detention Act to arrest and detain people without trial; it was used against political opponents. Then came TADA, which was used to trample on the fundamental rights. And POTA has been more misused than used. The only way out is abrogation of POTA.

G.M. Rama Rao,
Visakhapatnam, A.P.

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