The Terror of Law is a CDRO (Coordination of Democratic Rights Organization) report that shows how and why the UAPA curbs the freedoms provided by Article 19 [Protection of Freedoms] for expression, assembly and association against one section of political opinion. Like its predecessors TADA & POTA, UAPA virtually disenfranchises a section of the people. The report points out that freedom of expression is not an individual right but a collective right of groups, unions and political parties to disseminate their views and mobilize people. This is particularly important, as the report argues that six decades of constitutional democracy have failed to implement the Directive Principles of State Policy. The connection between the failure of promises and the curbing of political freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution (Art. 19, 21) is brought out through a study of how the first amendment (1951) and the sixteenth amendment (1963) to the Constitution played a catalytic role in marginalizing the importance of Directive Principles and in attacking freedoms.
Terror of Law demonstrates that the purpose of the UAPA is not to curb heinous behaviour or crime but to outlaw ideologies and groups that threaten the status quo while exonerating other ideologies from its purview despite their record of heinous crimes.
To download the report, click below:
The Terror of Law: UAPA And The Myth Of National Security
Also read:
Banned and Damned: SIMI’s Saga with UAPA Tribunals
