NEW DELHI, March 27 (UPI) -- Indian lawmakers approved a controversial anti-terrorism law Tuesday night that will allow police to hold suspects for up to 90 days without filing charges.
Lawmakers voted 425 to 296 to pass a "prevention of terrorism" law. A rare joint session of the parliament was called to discuss the measure.
Under the new anti-terrorism law, a suspect can be held in police custody for 90 days without being charged. That leaves suspects to prove their innocence. In some other countries, including the United States, a suspect is considered innocent until proven guilty.
Opposition parties have charged that the law will be used against Muslims, who are in the minority in India. They say the law is an oppressive one used by British rulers before India's independence in 1947.
But Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani said passing the law is essential to controlling terrorism.
"It is necessary to enact (the anti-terrorism law) because we feel we cannot score a decisive victory against terrorism unless special laws of this kind are in place," Advani told lawmakers.
Sonia Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress Party, disagreed.
"Supporting (the law) is like supporting terrorism," Gandhi said. "I fear that the law will become an instrument in the hands of this government to oppress opposition parties, minorities, weaker sections and ethnic groups."
The law, in effect by presidential decree before being passed by lawmakers, was recently used against Muslims in Hindu-Muslim clashes last month that left more than 800 people dead, for example, Gandhi said. No Hindu rioter was charged under the law. But 62 Muslims were charged, she said.
The anti-terrorism decree would have expired if lawmakers had not made it a law by April.
Law Minister Arun Jaitley said, "The law's purpose is to contain terrorism. There is no hidden political agenda behind it."
The president called for a joint parliamentary session after the anti-terrorism law was previously rejected by the country's upper parliament. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's government does not have a majority there. It has a comfortable majority, however, in the 782-member combined parliament.
