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"We cannot score a decisive victory against terrorism unless a special law of this kind is enacted," Advani said while moving the POT Bill at a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.
He said the country had been facing a proxy war for nearly two decades through "state-sponsored terrorism" leading to a situation where India was facing a challenge of a qualitatively different nature.
Asking whether Jammu & Kashmir was merely witnessing an aggravated law-and-order problem, the home minister said, "We are facing a proxy war where terrorist organisations are being trained and financed by a state."
Advani said the government was convinced of the need to enact POTO because the "state-sponsored cross-border terrorism" was a kind of war and not just a law-and-order problem.
"This is the first factor, which has been responsible for government to think of an extraordinary law like POTO," he said.
He also denied the Opposition's charge that POTO had been brought forward in a hurry, saying, "Our thinking started immediately after we came to power."
PTI
EARLIER REPORT: Joint sitting of Parliament on POT Bill begins
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