Pakistan: President's seal on controversial anti -terrorism bill, fear of threat to civic freedom

Islamabad, September 14 (IANS). Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari signed the Anti -terrorism (amendment), 2025 Bill on Sunday and made it a law. Once this law is implemented, the government and security forces have wide powers to keep the suspects for three months without accusing them. Although the government says this law is essential to dealing with incidents such as terrorist incidents, ransom and kidnapping, opposition parties and human rights organizations, it has described it as a direct attack on civil freedom and democratic rights. This amendment restores the provisions of the Anti -terrorism Act in 1997 (ATA) that ended earlier. Not only federal agencies, but the army will also be able to arrest people under government orders. Critics believe words such as “national security” and “public safety” are very wide and unclear in law, which can be used arbitrarily on political activists, students, journalists and minorities. According to a report by the European Times, the most controversial aspect of ‘Rochamatic Dearest’, in which only ‘reliable information’ or ‘appropriate doubt’ is considered sufficient for action. Experts believe that this provision can open the way for arrests and oppression on a large scale. There is a possibility of strong military influence in the politics of Pakistan because special rights are given to the army in the law. Analysts say the laws against terrorism were previously used against real terrorist threats, Baloch nationalists, Pashtun workers and other marginalized communities. The new law can bring these groups more target. Critics again look at the approval of this law by President Zardari as a tendency to dominate civil rights security issues. -Ians DSC/ Share these Story Tags