Countering terror
The decision by the Vice Chancellor (VC) of Jamia Millia University to offer legal aid to its students accused of indulging in terrorist acts in laudable. Governments are under pressure to show quick results, and any suspect is presumed to be guilty if the case pertains to so-called ‘terror’. In this atmosphere, every care must be taken to ensure that the accused get a chance of proper defence and fair trial. The BJP’s protest against the VC’s action is only to be expected. They have a history of supporting and implementing laws, at the centre and in states ruled by them, which rides roughshod over principles of natural justice. It is for this very reason that laws like POTA and Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, which becomes an instrument in the hands of rulers to terrorise anybody must be opposed.
(A shortened version of this was published in Letters to the Editor, in The Hindu, Sep 26, 2008)
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Ha, the phrase that every dog has its day has come true. The BJP which opposed the VC’s decision to offer legal aid to its students, has suddenly realised that “an accused has a right to legal aid”. Newspapers (Indian Express, Nov 03, 2008)* have reported that BJP and Shiv Sena are lining up lawyers for Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who is alleged to have a hand in the Malegaon blasts. If BJP stands by its contention that it is not the job of an institution to provide legal aid for “terror accused” persons, then can a national political party do the same? Time for introspection, eh?
(* http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Malegaon-blasts–BJP–Sena-line-up-lawyers-for-Sadhvi/380619)