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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on Wednesday once again said that those who opposed the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance were wittingly or unwittingly helping terrorists.
"What I am saying is that those who are opposed to POTO would be wittingly or unwittingly pleasing the terrorists by blocking it in Parliament. I am entitled to my own view just as others are," Advani told a news conference in New Delhi.
He disagreed with the suggestion that his views were not shared by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who wanted a consensus on the issue.
"When someone asked Vajpayee how he proposed to get the ordinance passed in the Rajya Sabha, he said the government would try to arrive at a consensus."
"Anyway, I would like to tell you that the standing committee of the home ministry has agreed to discuss the matter in the first week of the winter session and iron out the differences before the ordinance is placed before Parliament in the second or third week," Advani clarified.
He said that the national democratic government had, in its short span of three years in office, managed to build world opinion against terrorism. "Prior to September 11, the world leaders heard us. Now, the scene has changed. The world has united against terrorism," he said.
When asked why India did not place conditions before the United States before extending support in its fight against terrorism just as Pakistan had done, Advani said that there was a difference between India and Pakistan.
"We have the capacity to meet the challenge of terrorist threats. I am not saying that terrorist outfits would not be there after the attack on Afghanistan. They would continue to operate. But state support and financial backing would be difficult to come by," he said.
The home minister did not think that the terrorism in the northeast was as intense as in Jammu and Kashmir.
"The Inter-Services Intelligence has been trying to do some sort of networking in the northeast, but it has not succeeded. The terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly those belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayiba, consist of mainly foreigners like Afghans, Pakistanis etc," he said.
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