Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said Congress had learnt lessons from its past in fighting terrorism.
NEW DELHI: Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal today said Congress had learnt lessons from its past experience in fighting terrorism but emphasised that the proposed anti-terror laws were not "a replica of POTA".
"In life, as in politics, nothing is static.... ideologies change. We all learn from experience," Sibal said during the debate in Lok Sabha on the proposed amendments to the Unlawful Activities Act and the Bill for formation of a National Investigating Agency.
Leader of Opposition L K Advani had in his speech during the debate accused the Congress of "waking up" after "7-8 years" to the need for an anti-terror law and being "soft" on terror. Sibal was replying to Advani.
He emphasised that this legislation was not a move by the government to bring back POTA in another garb.
"This law is not a replica of POTA," he said adding, it would have no provision of admissibility of any confession made to a police officer.
Refuting BJP's oft-repeated charge that Congress was soft on terror, the eminent lawyer said, "You (BJP) should remember that we brought TADA. If anybody has faced terrorism, it is the Congress party." He added that when the Congress realised that TADA was being misused, it let the Act lapse.
Sibal said India was not soft on terror and had more stringent anti-terror laws than the US and the UK. "The Patriot Act in the US is applicable to non-citizens...In the UK, a person can be kept under detention only for 28 days. Under our law, the detention will be for 180 days," he said.
The debate saw BJP and Congress sparring with each other to score points over who had fought terror better in the past.
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