Amit Shah Breaking News: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill is to fight terror and has no other purpose.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill is to fight terror and has no other purpose.
Addressing the Rajya Sabha on UAPA, Shah said it is important to identify terrorists and not just organisations.
"Chidambaram ji asked why to name an individual as a terrorist when the organization they are affiliated to is already banned. It is because we ban one organistaion, another one comes up by same individuals. Till when will we keep banning organistaion?" he added.
Shah also accused the Congress party of linking terrorism with religion.
Continuing his attack on the grand old party, Shah said,"What happened during emergency? All media was banned, all opposition leaders were jailed. There was no democracy for 19 months, and you are accusing us of misusing laws? Kindly look at your past."
The Home Minister further said the BJP had always backed Congress's amendments in Anti-terror Act.
"When we were in opposition, we supported previous UAPA amendments, be it in 2004,2008 or 2013 as we believe all should support tough measures against terror. We also believe that terror has no religion, it is against humanity,not against a particular Govt or individual," he said.
Discussion on the UAPA Bill 2019 is currently underway in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill was widely criticised by Opposition parties, saying it does not clearly state as to how a person would be labelled a terrorist and that the provision could be misused.
The UAPA Bill, which empowers the government to designate individuals as terrorists, was taken up by the Rajya Sabha for discussion just a week after it was passed by the Lok Sabha. The UAPA Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Minister of State (MoS) Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy.
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