Mumbai, July 10 (IANS) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday told the state assembly that the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act will not be misused by organisations pursuing Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in the state.

In his speech while tabling the bill, he said that there are about 64 such LWE organisations in the state. He clarified that the act is not against the Left.

“The CPI (Maoist) party was banned in 2009. The then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, banned this party. This organisation was banned in the UAPA because it committed genocide, and we also have respect for the leaders of the Communist Party. This law will not be enforced just because teachers and students hold protests. It is not against individuals but against organisations.”

“The law will have to be read in its entirety. If the organisation aims to cause harm to the Constitution and other institutions, then it will be banned,” said the Chief Minister.

“In some states of the country, many people were fighting against the system established by the Constitution with guns in their hands, inspired by Maoism or bitter leftist ideology. Due to the efforts made by the central and state governments in the last few years, Maoism is being tackled effectively,” he said.

He emphasised that four districts of Maharashtra were previously affected by Maoism, but now they are active in only two talukas.

“But in the next year, even that will not be there. When Maoists who fight with guns are not available, people’s organisations that work to create indirect Maoists are formed. These organisations do not accept democracy and the Constitution of India. 64 such organisations are operating in the state. This law will be used against such organisations, and this law will not be misused against any political party or social organisations,” he assured.

In Andhra Pradesh, where this law is in force, seven out of 19 such banned organisations have been banned, in Jharkhand, 14 out of 14, and in Telangana, seven out of 29. Therefore, Maharashtra has the highest number of 64 hardline left-wing organisations in the country.

Since six organisations have been banned in these four states, they operate in their states. Documents have been found indicating that they want to expand their organisations in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Gadchiroli, Konkan, Amravati and Beed,” said the Chief Minister.

“There is confusion in the minds of the people about the law. No one can be directly arrested under this law; they can be arrested only if he is a member of a banned organisation. We can arrest him for speaking against the government, but the law cannot be made to suppress the voice of the opposition. This law is very balanced and more capable than the laws of the other four states,” he said, adding that the law is not to harass anyone, but against those who incite our own people against the Constitution of India.

Shiv Sena legislator Bhaskar Jadhav said, “I was in the joint select committee. Only three things have been changed in the bill. The government has not incorporated other changes suggested by us. The Maharashtra government will be the final authority. Four states passed this law; there was no BJP state there, so why did other BJP-ruled states not pass this law?”

NCP SP legislator Jayant Patil said, “We support dismantling the Maoists movement, we are against this movement, I did the same work when I was the Home Minister. Today, the police claim that it has become urbanised, and there is a fear that others will be arrested in the name of LWE. The law should not be misused. I give the example of P Chidambaram, he brought PMLA, and he was the first to be booked under that law.”

CPM legislator Vinod Nickole said,” I am the only MLA of the Left Party. Our party respects the Constitution and the laws. In 2017, the Kisan Sabha of the Marxist Communist Party took out a march of farmers on foot from Nashik. Anti-constitutional organisations should be controlled, but if they are protesting in accordance with the Constitution and legal means, action should not be taken against them as an illegal act. The right to protest against injustice should not be taken away through this bill. I oppose this bill as it is unconstitutional and there is a possibility of its misuse.”

The Congress legislator Nitin Raut said that there is a fear that this law will be implemented if a protest march is taken out for a cause.

“We feel that this law will take away the right to freedom of speech. We fear that the opposition will be suppressed and put in prison. Writers, intellectuals, and activists were arrested in a similar way in the Bhima Koregaon case, but nothing was found against them in the investigation,” he said.

NCP SP legislator Rohit Pawar argued that it would have been better if the bill had mentioned Maoist organisations instead of saying it is an organisation of hard-line leftists. It is doubtful whether this is targeted at people with leftist views.

Shiv Sena UBT legislator Varun Sardesai said there are left-wing organisations in every university. If injustice is done to students, these student organisations become aggressive.

“If they take out a protest, will they take action as per the provisions of the law? Will they ban those student organisations based on the law? If a bandh is called for justice, will they ban the organisations participating in the bandh?” he asked.

Congress legislator Vishwajit Kadam asked, “Will action be taken against those who helped radical leftist organisations 10-15 years ago? There is no mention of unregistered organisations. How can they be controlled, and innocent citizens should not be victimised in this.”

–IANS

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