Couple of weeks back, the US supreme court ruled that any aid to banned groups is terrorism, like raising money for the groups non-violent social activity or offering them legal or political advice, even for conflict resolution.
Hmmm! What if such a law is passed back home or even if such an interpretation is made by our own supreme court? Though the home ministry had stated that support to banned outfits can invite a 10 year prison term, it is doubtful whether such an action could be upheld by courts, in light of the judgement in the V. Gopalswamy POTA case.
In that case, the supreme court ruled that ‘mere expressions of sympathy or verbal support for terrorist organisations’ is not equivalent to ‘acting with the intent of inviting support for them or their activities’.
Accordingly, offering legal or political advice to banned organisations would not constitute a threat inviting proceedings, whereas under the US interpretation, it would be a duck shoot.
Now to see how the US treats people who actually offer such support or advice in other countries, like our so called intellectuals – Arundathi Roy, Aparna Sen, Kaushik Sen, Arpita Ghosh and Saonli Mitra – to name a few, when apply for a US visa.
Hmmm! What if such a law is passed back home or even if such an interpretation is made by our own supreme court? Though the home ministry had stated that support to banned outfits can invite a 10 year prison term, it is doubtful whether such an action could be upheld by courts, in light of the judgement in the V. Gopalswamy POTA case.
In that case, the supreme court ruled that ‘mere expressions of sympathy or verbal support for terrorist organisations’ is not equivalent to ‘acting with the intent of inviting support for them or their activities’.
Accordingly, offering legal or political advice to banned organisations would not constitute a threat inviting proceedings, whereas under the US interpretation, it would be a duck shoot.
Now to see how the US treats people who actually offer such support or advice in other countries, like our so called intellectuals – Arundathi Roy, Aparna Sen, Kaushik Sen, Arpita Ghosh and Saonli Mitra – to name a few, when apply for a US visa.
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