Govt says no to MCOCA replicas

NEW DELHI: The war of words between the government and the BJP over anti-terror measures is set to intensify with the Centre on Monday ruling out assent for the organised crime bills passed by Gujarat and Rajasthan. While the Centre said that the bills with provisions similar to the repealed Pota cannot be allowed to be part of the law books, the BJP said the MHA���s reluctance to clear a state law similar to that of Congress-run-Maharashtra���s MCOCA showed the Centre���s anxiety to curry favour with hardline community opinion.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had on Sunday sought immediate presidential assent to the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill, stuck with the MHA for its opinion since 2003, in the wake of the arrest of 10 Simi men behind the Ahmedabad blasts, including mastermind Mufti Abu Bashir. ���If the government has an iota of the same anger, contempt, and callousness towards the jihadis as they do towards our innocent citizens, the Centre would not act in this fashion,��� said BJP leader Arun Jaitley.

The Centre, which had earlier made it clear to senior BJP leaders that it is not in favour of the state anti-terror legislations, remains firm on holding back approval, notwithstanding the terrorists incidents in states like Gujarat and Rajasthan and the subsequent unfolding of the thriving Simi networks there. On Monday, a senior MHA official agreed that it would be very ���peculiar��� for the President to give assent to a law that has provisions similar to Pota, which has been repealed by Parliament.

This view was earlier communicated by Union home minister Shivraj Patil to senior BJP leaders L K Advani and Arun Jaitley during their interaction with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on internal security soon after the Ahmedabad blasts. Mr Patil had told them that a state bill that is reminiscent of Pota would not be allowed.

Obviously, the Centre is reluctant to clear the anti-terror bills proposed by Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh ��� all replicas of the MCOCA, which was chosen over Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2004, to charge terrorists arrested for the 7/11 local train blasts, thanks to its stricter bail provisions ��� keeping in mind the campaign of minorities that such laws, if enacted, could be used to target Muslims.

The BJP, which maintains that the Manmohan Singh government is frightfully weak on national security, however, said the appeasement agenda should not be allowed to dictate important policy decisions.

Even as the MHA ruled out Mr Modi���s demand for expeditious clearance to GCOC Bill, senior MHA officials congratulated the state for cracking the Ahmedabad blasts case by ensuring perfect coordination with central intelligence agencies and various other state police. ���Investigations into the past terrorist attacks keep throwing up leads...Gujarat has been able to piece together these leads and achieve a breakthrough,��� a home ministry official pointed out.