PM's 'record' poor, he can't fight terror: BJP

COMBATING TERROR: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rejected demands to bring back POTA.

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New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pitched for a federal crime agency, the BJP on Sunday questioned his commitment to fight terror and said a new agency would be of no use unless it is armed with a POTA-type stringent anti-terror law.

"Manmohan Singh's bonafides in the war against terror are suspect," said senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley while asking whether a federal agency under him to deal with terror crimes can really be trusted given his "track record" in the last four years.

"It is ironical that after being in prime ministerial office for four years, the prime minister has finally woken up to the harsh and cruel reality that prevention and investigation of terrorism in India is on the verge of collapse," Jaitley said.

He said the repeal of POTA, not giving assent to similar anti-terror laws in BJP-ruled states, non-execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and "helping the accused being prosecuted under POTA for burning Sabarmati Express" raises a legitimate question whether a federal agency under Singh can really be trusted.

Jaitely asked, "Does the Prime Minister's track record inspire confidence that he will implement his proposal for a federal agency against terror."

He also sought to know whether Singh will have the political courage to strengthen the content of India's anti-terrorist laws to make them more "terrorist-unfriendly".

Claiming that the Prime Minister and Congress had been opposing strong anti-terror law, he sought to know "will not the federal agency be helpless in investigating terrorist crimes if confessions of terrorists are inadmissible evidence and an easy bail is available to the terrorists under normal law".

Singh said on Saturday there was a need for creating a federal crime agency on lines similar to the FBI in the United States to tackle terrorism and white-collar crimes in various parts of the country.

“There is a case for creating a Federal Agency to tackle terrorist crime, white collar crimes and other forms of crime. So far, the states’ are not cooperating. We must keep an open mind,” he said.