All India Milli Council, 15 Nov 2001, Press Statement, The Milli Gazette

2001: Indian Muslim Statements
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All India Milli Council:
RESOLUTION Passed at the National Convention "POTO and National Security"

New Delhi, 15 November, 2001: After eliciting opinions from various eminent speakers, consisting of legal luminaries, journalists, intellectuals, human rights activists and politicians from different parts of the country and discussing threadbare the background, perspective, motive and provisions of the newly promulgated Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) 2001, which is to be presented for approval before Parliament, beginning on November 19, the national convention organized on November 15 at Rajinder Bhawan, New Delhi by the All India Milli Council on the theme of "POTO and National Security" passed the following resolutions:

We call upon the people to reject POTO in toto as it is an enlarged version of the now lapsed TADA.
We call upon the central government to withdraw immediately the draconian ordinance and resort to the already existing laws to deal with the menace of terrorism in the states where it exists, since there are bitter experience of the misuse of similar laws like TADA. They had put a large number of innocent people into suffering by putting them behind the bars years together.
We call upon the political parties, Members of Parliament, including the entire Opposition and those within the ruling NDA or supporting it to defeat the politically motivated ordinance (POTO) when it is introduced in both the Houses of Parliament for its passage, in the same spirit it allowed TADA to lapse in 1995.
We call upon the allies of NDA, like TDP, DMK, BJD, Janata Dal (United) and Trinamool Congress and others to rise to the occasion and oppose POTO in both the houses of Parliament.
We urge upon all those organizations who have faith in democracy to organize themselves to expose the dangers to the democratic values in the country.
POTO is a serious threat to civil rights, democratic institutions, existing human rights in the country and freedom of press. Therefore, we call upon the major political parties in the Parliament, particularly Congress party which has got a significant position in Rajya Sabha, to come out openly against POTO, and defeat the proposed Bill in Rajya Sabha. q

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