On the 24th of July, the Lok Sabha tabled the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Bill, 2019 for discussion in the House amongst the Members of Parliament (MPs.)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Central Government introduced the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019, which empowers the Government to declare an individual as a terrorist.
According to the Bill, Director General, the National Investigation Agency and other agencies which deal with terrorism will be given the power to seize an individual’s property until proven.
G. Kishan Reddy, the Ministers of State for Home Affairs in India, presented the Bill for discussion.
In support of the UAPA Bill, Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India, said, “When you question us, you don’t see who brought the law and amendments, who made it stringent. It was brought when you were in power, what you did then was right & what I’m doing now is also right.”
He further said India should unite to fight against terrorism.
However, the opposition party’s MPs objected to the UAPA Bill and raised several queries and doubts.
Mahua Moitra, a MP of the Trinamool Congress (TMC,) said if the Central Government wants to target someone, it will be very easy for them to do so with the amended UAPA Bill.
Moitra further said, “Each time the Trinamool opposes a Bill, they run the risk of being labelled as anti-national.” She also said, the Bill will give the power to designate an individual as terrorist without any legal process and called it ‘anti federalism,’ ‘anti constitutional’ and ‘anti people.’”
Apart from the TMC leader, the National Congress Party (NCP,) the Janata Dal (United) (JD[U,]) the Indian National Congress (INC,) the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and other opposition parties also opposed the Bill.
Asaduddin Owaisi, the President of the All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen, said the UAPA Bill is a violation to the existing Article 21 of the Constitution of India, as it takes away judicial rights of individuals. He also asked the BJP, “Are you outsourcing your nationalism to some international convention?”
While the majority of political parties opposed the Bill, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supported the Bill.
Once passed in the Lok Sabha with by majority of the MPs, the Bill will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha for approval.
The session of the 17th Lok Sabha started from the 17th of June and will continue till the 26th of July.
Stay tuned for further updates.
