The Hindu : New Delhi News : POTA will be repealed shortly: Shivraj Patil

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 11, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

POTA will be repealed shortly: Shivraj Patil

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 10. The Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, today said that POTA would not be allowed to lapse but repealed shortly.

"It is in our Common Minimum Programme and we will be repealing it shortly. We will try and do it in the coming session of Parliament itself,'' Mr. Patil told NDTV in an interview.

Asked if the repeal would apply prospectively as demanded by human rights activists, he said: "These are details and are being worked out. No firm decision in this regard has been taken but we will protect all those who have been treated unfairly by the law.''

On Kashmir, he said that the level of violence had come down despite the recent attacks on the Army and the CRPF camps. "We remain concerned about the violence, and yes, we will raise our concerns with Pakistan when the Home Secretary travels there,'' he added.

On talks with the Hurriyat Conference, he said that he had received no indication from the separatist group that they were unwilling to talk to him. "I think this impression only exists in the media. If, however, the Hurriyat wants to talk to someone else, we will always be ready to listen to them. I am not going to stand on prestige and insist that they must talk to the Home Minister and no one else,'' he said.

He made it clear that he was ready to talk to all the groups in the Valley, including the hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani's faction. "Anyone who wants to make a point is free to come and make it. I do not want to be rigid about anything.''

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