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Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
The Congress on Wednesday underscored its objection to the proposed anti-terrorist legislation by pointing out that the government had "sought to bring it through the back door".
"We recognise that situations do exist (regarding terrorism in the country), but we have strong objections over the government bringing an ordinance through the back-door," party spokesman Anand Sharma said.
He said, "We fail to understand the timing and the hurry on the part of the government to bring in an anti-terrorist ordinance, which impinge on fundamental rights and civil liberties," he said.
Underlining that the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill was still pending in the Rajya Sabha, Sharma contended that the anti-terrorist measure should have parliamentary consensus.
"The government needs to discuss such measures with representative sections of political parties," he said, adding that the draft of the proposed anti-terrorist legislation had not been circulated.
He pointed out that the "information clause" of the proposed legislation was "alarming and very oppressive" and sought to take away the fundamental rights of the citizens.
Referring to party leader Sonia Gandhi's meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, he said the two discussed the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US and the prevailing situation in South Asia, especially the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
According to Sharma, Sonia conveyed her party's and the country's concern against cross-border terrorism and emphasised that Kashmir was not the central issue, as had been underlined by the secretary of state in Islamabad on Tuesday.
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