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Tuesday Conference

Theology e-magazine

To make humanity united in worshipping God

Amend Draconian Laws, UAPA.

Our Heavenly Patron

Tuesday Conference r ea ches the 17th issue titled

Amend Draconian Laws, UAPA with a heart full of sorrow
and grief. Tuesday Conference salutes those who lost their
comforts of lives, families while speaking truth and making their
dissent loud. We firmly rest on principles of human dignity

and democratic values in fighting insurgencies of any kind.

Everyone is urged to understand, and raise awareness about
the UAPA being used to suppress, and subdue, any common
person, whether a farmer, a laborer, or a community activist, who
raises a voice for his or her rights. To oppose these Acts, and to
make the wider community aware of their misuse, w e
publish this issue of Tuesday Conference.

Our dreams of Justice and Democracy is

becoming more extinct every day. B y neglectin g
the civil right and enforcing atrocious terror laws, the
state is exercising despotism over the lives of
the citizens.

The Kerala Govt has helplessly succumb to the

Page - 02

whims and fancies of the malicious police officials.

Introduction

The Kerala
High Court
had held in
2015 that
being a
Maoist is not

a crime,
though the
political
ideology of
the Maoist

The rationale of this study is the increasing number of

cases were the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is
being invoked across the country and specially in the state of
Kerala. The shocking aspect of this police activism received
scathing criticism from various corners of political circles.
On 30 Jan
2015, the Kerala
police
arrested
human
rights
activists Jaison C
Cooper
and
Thushar
Nirmal
Sarathy
under
Indias
principal
anti-terror legislation, the UAPA, for allegedly being involved in
unlawful activities because they had pro-Maoist materials in
their homes.
Recently Kerala Police went back on its decision to slap

will not

sedition charges on writer Kamalsy Prana and book activist K P

synchronise

Nadir under the UAPA following criticism from the ruling CPM.

with our

Prana was booked after a BJP worker complained that the writer
had insulted
the national
anthem
on FB post
by quoting
from
his
novel.

constitutional
polity.

The way in which police is acting against political dissidents,

novelists, civil society activists has created an impression that
the force is being led by Sangh Parivar logic.

Stories Untold

Page - 03

Nadir, who is accused of distributing pro-Maoist pamphlets in Kannur

in March, was arrested from Kozhikode Medical College, where he had gone to meet
Prana.
Earlier, the court directed the state government to give compensation of Rs
one lakh to Shyam Balakrishnan who was arrested by the Kerala police, after he was
named a Maoist. The Supreme Court had also the same in Binayak Sen case, few
years back. Recently several people were also arrested by the Kerala police terming
them Maoist sympathisers.
A few weeks back 2 Maoist leaders
were killed in an alleged encounter in
Nilambur. We do not give a detailed
list of UAPA cases charged, since that
are not at hands of ordinary public.

What is UAPA?
UAPA is an Indian law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities

associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing
with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty
of India. The UAPA 2004 had become a main political issue
in 2004 Lok Sabha elections. The UAPA 2008 introduces
harsh amendments to the already draconian provisions of a
similarly titled 1967 act, including doubling the time "terror"
suspects can be held without charge and forcing accused in
certain cases to "prove" their innocence.

History of the Amendments to UAPA

The Bill was passed by both the Houses of Parliament and received the assent
of the President on 30 December 1967. The Amending Acts are as follows:
1. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amend Act, 1969;
2. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1972;
3. The Delegated Legislation Provisions (Amend) Act, 1986;
4. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amend. Act, 2004,

5. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amend. Act, 2008,

6. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amend. Act, 2012.

Overturning o f Key Juridic al Princ iples

The govt
should
ensure that
the
developmen
tal schemes

of the

Page - 04

Of no less importance is the fact that UAPA overturns

longstanding juridical principles, laying the basis for further
attacks on democratic rights. They are listed as follows;
The broad definition of person (an association of persons
or a body of individuals, whether incorporated or not) will
actually allow the police to detain and arrest anybody they deem
to be an association.

government

do not
harm the
people or
the
environme
nt.

The bill goes on to make it a crime liable to a minimum of 5

years and a maximum of life imprisonment to raise, collect, or
provide funds, directly or indirectly, likely to be used to commit a
terrorist act.

Foreign terror suspects or indeed almost any foreign national accused of

entering the country illegally will have no right to bail. Even for Indian nationals,
bail will be difficult if not impossible to obtain, as it is subject to the consent of a
judge of the special terrorist court.
Police are now empowered to arrest terrorist
suspects and detain them for 180 days without filing any
formal charges. Under the 1967 Act the maximum period
of imprisonment without formal charges was 90 days.
It also provides, according to an analysis
carried out by Amnesty International, no clear and
strict definition of what constitutes membership of a
terrorist gang or organization. This opens the door
to the witchhunting of large numbers of people

who support the objectives of an organization

deemed by the Indian state to be terrorist, but who
are in no way involved in violence.

The passage of
the

The signal is clear: beware, all you...

Page - 05

The legislation could also be invoked in the future directly

amendments,

against the working class, as almost any form of resistance to

which now

the state could be labeled a threat to the "unity, integrity,

bring economic

security or sovereignty of India."

offences under

The signal is clear: beware, all you, who

terrorism, and

speak for rights. The source of your

broaden the

funds could be investigated under

definition of

terror laws.

person to an
extent

that will criminalize all forms of associations, will provide

sweeping powers to the police and security agencies, and create a
regime of suspicion.

Those who are

unjustifiably
held in prisons

If a suspect is caught with weapons, the law will presume

or police
custodies and
when the court
acquits them,

the accused is guilty; in other words the burden of proof will be

should be
given a
satisfactory
compensation.

The state is empowered to freeze, seize or attach funds

shifted from the state to the accused, thereby violating one of

the most essential principles of civil libertyinnocent until
proven guilty.
and other financial assets or economic resources reputedly held
by suspected individuals on behalf of terrorist organizations.

Checks and Balances...

The simple truth is that there are no checks and
balances to blunt the draconian edge of this law. The
Home Ministry had replied to the Standing Committee
when it said that an innocent person can produce
evidence to show that he is not associated.
Yes of course. One always has the option of
trying to prove ones innocence, but thats not
called a safeguard.

Page - 06

Human Rights Groups Demand the Govt.

1. The details of all the UAPA cases in Kerala that have been registered and the
legal proceeding in each case are to be made public.
2. The extensive execution of UAPA should be reconsidered by the state
government.
3. To illustrate any religion, race, class, caste or society as fearful should be
considered as an offensive crime and anyone involved in it should be punished
for which new laws should be legislated.
4. If anybody is falsely implied and accused as a terrorist, Maoist or insurgent by
a Police officer, the Kerala government is requested to punish these police
officers by law.
5. Those who protest against the Developmental schemes that adversely affect the
people and the environment, are arrested by branding them as antidevelopment, anti-nationals and traitors.

Argues...Human Rights Activists...

It is the need of the time that stringent laws and policies are to be
formulated to curb, to regulate deviating and defying elements from the society.
Any legally elected body can formulate such measures. But to attain such a goal
we shall not brutally oppress people with differing a note to sing. All may not
dance according to our tunes and to bypass their human rights and concerns are
illegal. People in power have to exercise their duty with a grace to listen
dissenting voices.
Diverse opinions other than ours, are to be heard, dreams other than ours, are
to be cherished, fashions other than ours, are to be dressed up, ideologies other
than ours, are to be propagated, plans other than ours, are to be implemented.
This list ends only when one thinks himself a judge of other, sole arbitrator
of truth. More than ever in these turbulent days it is not fair for a democratic govt
to use oppressive laws, guns to silence dissent. Rules of whatever institutions may
there be, the officials need to accept that the poor on the margins and people
entrusted to them are the prime beneficiaries. Ironically we see these

days, colleges are run so to make managements benefitted, not students!

Religions are run so to make holy men idols, not poor mans prayer heard!
Govts are run so to make bureaucracy fattened, not SC/ST/OBC ! Police are run
so to make innocent terrified, not bandits!

Page - 07

Neutrality of Terror Laws...

The history of anti-terror laws belies this nave claim. Thousands, almost
all Sikhs, were detained during the TADA years, and Gujarat invoked POTA against
280 people, 279 of who were Muslims. The UAPA is being used extensively on
hundreds of tribals, dalits, adivasis, minorities, democratic rights and cultural
activists in the name of Maoism.

The govt should ensure that the police

machinery do not hunt down the adivasis,
human rights activists, volunteers of popular
struggles who protest against the development
mafias, and stop branding them as Maoists
and suppressing them .
Naxalites
According to the Indian govt, Naxalite insurgents are active in about 180
administrative districts or more than one-fifth of the entire country. Such
movements enjoy the support of a layer of students cultural organizations and
some of them are patronized by well-known intellectuals and artists.
Such activities have now been criminalized
and there is every reason to expect that the ruling
elite will utilize these new laws to launch a dragnet
against

Naxalite-aligned

groups

and

their

supporters.

Conclusion:

While we utterly condemn the attacks and recognize that the

Indian authorities have a right and duty to take effective measures to ensure the
security of the population, security concerns should never be used to jeopardize
people's human rights. Madhu Malhotra, Asia Pacific Program Deputy Director at
Amnesty International, said. Tuesday Conference believes the spirit of Mark Twain
when he warned whenever you find yourselves in the side of majority, it is time to
pause and reflect.

Neither we fear nor do we hesitate to join hands

with people of good will against atrocities
planned, executed and obliterated from the
general public by state owned machineries.

Editor: Tony Maliyekal VC.

Published from Vincentian Vidyabhavan, Aluva.