Terrorism and Rule of Law

Terrorism and Rule of Law A G Noorani IT is exactly twenty years since civil disorders began in Northern Ireland in the wake of the procession (they call it march) in Londonderry of October 5,1968. Ter- rorism became a ready accomplice and made itself felt even in the heart of London. The methods of Irish terrorists are far more deadly and sophisticated than those used by terrorists in India generally and in Punjab specifically. Time and again we are told in India that (a) the country will become ungovernable if the state is deprived of the power of preventive detention and (b) terrorism cannot be combated save by the drastic invasions of personal liberty which Indian statutes make.