Arbitrary detentions, torture, mass graves and mass rapes. No, you are not reading about a rogue third world authoritarian dictatorship. Instead these are words that describe matters recurrent in the “world’s largest democracy”, India. The country, over time, has developed a mechanism to extend and tighten its hold on disturbed regions, specifically those states that carry visible secessionist sentiments. This apparatus of oppression is pillared through draconian legislation, which is painted and repainted from time to time.
The development of such legislation in India seems to exhibit a specific pattern, which is marked by evasive moves in the face of public pressure, and even “scrapping” the law when under fire, but all the while preserving the crux or its original spirit. Draconian laws such as Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) and Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) have never been completely rooted out. Instead they have merged from one form to the other over time.
TADA, introduced in 1985, empowered the state to keep anyone accused under its ambit within detention for up to a year, without a formal charge sheet. It freed the police of the compulsion to present the accused within 24 hours of the arrest. The power of arresting on mere suspicion and confessions derived during police custody being considered admissible evidence in courts of law, all together contributed to the horror of this legislation. The secret and closed…