Dainik Bhaskar, Faridabad Sunday 29th March 2015, Page: 4 Width: 4.18 cms, Height: 11.46 cms, a4, Ref: pmin.2015-03-29.51.31 THE TIMES OF INDIA India Beware of draconian counter-terrorism measures, cautions NHRC chief A Subramani, TNN | Mar 29, 2015, 05.32 PM IST MUMBAI: While terrorism needs to be condemned unequivocally, draconian counterterrorist measures, including draconian laws, are matters of concern, said chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and former chief justice of India Justice K G Balakrishnan on Sunday. Addressing a gathering of judges, lawyers and law students attending a conference on international terrorism in Mumbai, Justice Balakrishnan said anti-terrorist laws had put a large number of people in jail without trial and conviction. "It is a matter of worry," he said. Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, Chief justice of Bangladesh, said his country always supported global war against terrorism, but its ability to combat terrorism was undermined by weak institutions, porous borders and limited law enforcement capacity. "At present, the government is trying hard by keeping no stone unturned for reviving a sense of security among its people so that they can contribute to national economy and political progress," he said. Those who hurl petrol bombs on people and destroy people's assets did not have any share in politics, and they, in no way, could be treated as political elements, Sinha said. National Green Tribunal chairman Justice Swatanter Kumar likened terrorism to free air capable of transcending borders and checks. He urged members of younger generation and students to be aware implications of terrorist acts. Referring to the November 26 terrorist attack in Mumbai, he said the social fear psychosis created by that one event had a cascading effect on people. As for economic impact of a terrorist act, Justice Kumar said governments were spending billions of dollars on combating and prosecuting terrorist elements. It had an environmental angle too, he said, adding that a judge from Afghanistan had said people in that country could not breathe fresh air or grow tree amidst terrorist threats. Fight for freedom and terrorism had nothing in common, he said, adding, "The two are poles apart." Justice Chauhan, chairman of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, said the government should focus on employment policies across the nation, especially in border regions, so that hungry and unemployed do not land in the trap of rival nations. The legislature, the executive and the judiciary must sync with one another, and their collective aim should be eradicating terrorism, he said. "Terrorism is not limited to physical threats or cross-border attacks. It has extended its branch in virtual world which is not generating more threats because of its potential to reach out to the general masses. Its speed is dangerous enough to ignite emotions of people in wrong direction within a matter of a few minutes," he added. Student beaten for 'not paying fees' Press Trust of India | Ghaziabad March 29, 2015 Last Updated at 00:32 IST A 7-year-old girl student of a private school was allegedly beaten by a her teacher for not paying the school fees, promoting parents to approach NHRC. The incident happened on March 24 in Nand Gram colony under Sihani Gate police station in the district. The student's father Khalid complained the matter to District Magistrate on the same day. District Magistrate Vimal Kumar Sharma while assuring the victim's father to initiate appropriate action had forwarded the matter to the concerned authority. According to a written complaint before the National Human Rights Commission, the student of 1st standard was thrashed by her class teacher on Tuesday, the day of her exam as her parents had defaulted in payment of school fees on time. As a result of merciless beating the girl allegedly fainted in the class room and could not write. In a hurry the school management called up her father Khalid and asked him to take her to home, the human rights activist Rajiv Sharma said. Traumatised girl narrated the whole incident to her father, who then complained to the principal, but no action was taken, it said.