HEADLINE NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Terrorist and Disruptive Act Bill endorsed by Lower House

By Ritu Raj Subedi

Kathmandu, Apr. 4: The House of Representatives, with a majority of votes, endorsed the Terrorist and Disruptive Act (Control and Punishment) Bill today.

The Bill, which will replace the ordinance issued in November, will become law once it has received the Royal assent, and it will be valid for two years.

When Deputy Speaker Chitra Lekha Yadav put the Bill to the House for a decision, all lawmakers of the Nepali Congress were in favour of the bill. Among the opposition, some MPs of CPN-UML were against it and others remained undecided. Members of Parliament of the three other Left parties opposed the bill.

Minister for Physical Planning, Construction and Works Chiranjibi Wagle, on behalf of the Home Minister, had presented the bill for approval.

The State Affairs Committee of the parliament had passed the bill unanimously on Wednesday after three days of discussion with several changes to the original draft proposed by the government.

Before the decision, Minister Wagle said that the Bill would only target terrorists and would cause no harm whatsoever to the peoples’ representatives, political parties and the people respecting the Constitution of the Kingdom.

"The Bill aims to restore the human rights which are violated by the Maoist terrorists," Wagle added.

Justifying the aims and objectives of the bill, Minister Wagle said that the Maoist terrorists have been killing innocent people and destroying development infrastructures of the country. "So it is necessary to tame the Maoists to save the lives and property of the people," he said.

He stated that the Bill received its final shape after extensive debate and discussion and that it has encompassed suggestions by the opposition lawmakers. He said that the Bill allows compensation for victims of either security forces or Maoists.

As per the Bill, the government will form a committee headed by a former justice of the Supreme Court, and this committee will hear the grievances of the victims, Wagle informed.

Refuting a charge by a Left MP that the government had not done adequate homework to resolve the Maoist problem, Wagle said: "The government was lenient to the Maoists and tried to resolve the issue peacefully." But it was the Maoists who unilaterally broke off the talks and attacked the army, police and financial establishments, he said.

Taking part in the discussion, opposition lawmakers said that, in principle, it was regrettable to bring such an anti-terrorist act into a democratic set up. Instead they asked the government to seek a political solution to the Maoist issue.

The CPN-UML lawmaker Pradeep Gyawali said that formulating the act was not enough to root out terrorism. "It is only a weapon in the fight against the terrorists."

Netral Lal Shrestha of Rastriya Prajatantra Party pointed out the need for behavioural changes in people, rather than in law, to solve the problem.

Chitra Bahadur KC of the National Peoples’ Front Nepal (NPFN) warned that the Bill the might backfire and would curtail MPs’ rights.

Protesting against the Bill, Narayn Man Bijukchhe of the Nepal Workers’ and Peasants’ Party said that the people had been victims of both the sides- the Maoists as well as the security forces.

Prakash Jwala of the UML said that the government should be watchful that the anti-terrorist law was not abused.

Lila Ram Acharya of NPFN requested the ruling Nepali Congress to make sacrifices for the sake of the nation to help the country out of the crisis. "It would only be stupidity to suppress the uprising by making stringent laws."

Defending the Bill, chief whip of the ruling party Ramesh Lekhak said that the Bill was aimed only at the terrorists, who were attacking the common people. "The Act is what is needed now to resolve the law and order problem."

Lekhak said that the Bill had incorporated practical suggestions from the MPs and added: "The Bill came into existence after the lawmakers showed their good intent."

He said that the government would show prudence and would be careful in implementing it. "Innocent people will not suffer because of this law."

Other Stories