The Indian Government enacted TADA in 1985 at the height of its anti-Sikh campaign when thousands of Sikhs were killed tortured and imprisoned. The aim was to crush, with its heavy hand the Sikh democratic movement for freedom.
When someone asked the Indian Home Minister which of the regional movements in recent years had been most dangerous for the country the reply was “The Punjab Movement.” No ‘one doubts that the state of Punjab is in a crucial military position. It is a state like Kashmir and to a lesser extent Upper Pradesh and the Union Territory.
Besides, if India loses its bread basket of prime agricultural commodities wheat, rice, sugar cane and cotton, an Independent Punjab would assert its right to the waters of its rivers to stop its looting by India, The Sikh majority state is not only provider of inputs to the Indian economy but is also a ready and prosperous market for India’s finished goods. Such a dangerous movement had to be defeated with every weapon in India’s arsenal. The TADA was one such weapon. It is the blackest of all black laws in the world, but the police, not only in Punjab but also elsewhere in the county welcome TADA because it gave them immense and unquestioned power, never given by any of the laws left over from the British Colonialists.
The much hated Rowland act pales into insignificance before the severity of TADA. The basic design of TADA was anti Sikh but has been subsequently used against Muslims and other minority groups as well. No one doubts this, even the minority wing of the Indian ruling party. As soon as the Minorities Commission set up by the government, had noted the effect of TADA’s use against minorities, India had canceled these vital facts, But any enquiry would show that an overwhelming majority of those arrested under TADA during the past nine years have been members of the minority community. Merely because a small number of none minorities too have been proceeded against under TADA does not alter its ant minority thrust. The existence and use of this law alone is sufficient to prove that the Indian state is a practioner of apartheid worse than South Africa’s white regime practiced against the blacks. The political calculations of the Indian ruling party in the context of forthcoming state assembly elections dictated a fresh look at TADA to placate Muslims. Muslims are the largest minority in the country. Also a review was called for by the interpretation put out by Indian Supreme Court that those arrested under this law would be freed on bail if the police failed to put up cases before the courts within six months of a person’s arrest. This interpretation made it difficult for the Indian State to keep thousands of prisoners for years without trial. As was noted in these columns there was an interesting polarization on whether TADA should stay or disappear. On one side are India’s minorities, Sikhs, Muslims, Christian’s and some sections of Hindus and small groups of Human Rights activists. On the other side, are the police and intelligence agencies and the fascist sectors of Hindus including their hangers on and retainers like Maninderjit Singh Bitta this polarization actually reflects the overall present day reality of the Indian state which remains dominated by fascists even while holding elections occasionally and talking of economic liberalization. India’s home minister has reiterated the stand that TADA will not be repealed. This is nothing but a reassertion of the state’s authority and of the Indian police in particular.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 16, 1994
