SDPI dismayed at Opposition’s lackadaisical attitude towards NIA Bill

New Delhi 18 Jul 2019: The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), is dismayed at the way the Opposition parties in Parliament allowed the controversial NIA (Amendment) Bill 2019 giving it more teeth to smoothly sail through both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

SDPI National President M.K Faizy in a statement said that though in Lok Sabha there was some semblance of resistance by a handful of its members but in Rajya Sabha the Bill had a cake-walk and now ready for the President to give his assent. The lackadaisical attitude of the members was regretful. Faizy said Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remark that those who will oppose the NIA (Amendment) Bill will be seen as aligning with terrorists and their fight against terrorism would be a hoax in the eyes of the public at large. The Opposition members fell in the trap and meekly surrendered without putting up even a symbolic fight in the fear of being seen soft on terrorists and called anti-national.

He cautioned against the possibility of the States’ jurisdiction being impinged upon. He said the NIA was set up in the spirit of “federalism and cordiality.” However, the State Police were being bypassed and their assistance not taken in investigations. Although the government might have the best law and a pious motive, if the implementation was not in the spirit of federalism and cordiality, legality of the legislation could be challenged, as had happened in the case of the CBI. The NIA should do its job and not become National Interference Agency, he remarked. He pointed out that the Section 4 of the amendment of the NIA Bill 2019 adds that the agency wants to go abroad and conduct investigations as they do in India. First of all, they don’t have the treatise to catch any person abroad without going through the local police force. Have you heard of that happening in India? So in practical effect they will have zero power, but they will show India that they have done something great.

Faizy, said had NDA Govt. counseled, influenced Pakistan in bringing a law to investigate & prosecute offences committed outside Pakistan, in it would have lay a solution to any terrorist act Govt. claims to have been carried out by Pakistan stage & non stage actors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi though keeps making foreign trips but his led Govt. has utterly failed repeatedly on national security domain. He keeps himself abreast of any festivity at homes of Pakistan establishment be it marriage or birthday. Modi attended it to extend pleasantries but his Govt. has no intelligence input to prevent series of terrorist attacks and He didn’t think it fit to counsel Pakistan to bring a law to prosecute offences carried by Pakistanis outside Pakistan.

While reaffirming SDPI’s stand for strengthening national security, Faizy pointed out lacunae in the proposed amendments, reiterating that of the major cases — such as the Samjhauta Express blast, Ajmer Dargah bombing, the Malegaon blast and the Sohrabuddin encounter case – none had reached a conclusive end.

The statement stated: “Trended record shows NIA has failed in getting conviction in Makkah Masjid Blast, Ajmer Dargah Blast, Samjhauta Express blast & other where victims were from rows of non-majority faith. Even no appeals were filed against acquittals. What it speaks of NIA mandate, handling, and professionalism? One fears, when one gets to read of trended acquittals of cases where non majority faith citizens & humans were victims, does it spell as National Investigation Agency or Nagpur Interfered Activity?”

Central Office-SDPI

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