“The Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 (ATA) has empowered police in a way that with the insertion of a single line, “Aur Ilaqa main khof aur hiraas phail gaiya” (the act created fear and chaos in the area) they can transfer any crime from the normal courts to the terrorism courts.” Syed Farhad Ali Shah, a senior lawyer with experience representing 100 cases before the ATCs since 2010 (ii) STATUTORY LANGUAGE UNDER SECTION 6 The preamble of the ATA lays out the intent of the law in the following words: “the prevention of terrorism, sectarian violence and for speedy trial of heinous offences and for matters connected there with and incidental there to.” The inclusion of heinous offences, which are not defined within the law, widens its scope beyond crimes of terrorism and sectarian violence to almost all acts of violence. In addition to the preamble, Section 6 lays out the definition of terrorism. The original definition, at the time of the enactment of the law was limited to two paragraphs. However, successive amendments have broadened it to an unwieldy 28 paragraphs that extends to all violent crimes and not just those pertaining to terrorism. SECTION 6(1) DEFINES TERRORISM AS “the use or threat of action where (b) The use or threat is designed to coerce and intimidate or overawe the Government or the public or a section of the public or community or sect or create a sense of fear or insecurity in society; or (c) The use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a religious, sectarian or ethnic cause, or intimidating and terrorizing the public, social sectors, media persons, business community or attacking the civilians, including damaging property by ransacking, looting, arson or by any other means, government officials, installations, security forces or law enforcement agencies, provided that nothing herein contained shall apply to a democratic and religious rally or a peaceful demonstration in accordance with law. Section 6(2) lays out 17 acts (or threat of actions) that are to be combined with the mens rea requirements under Section 6(1) in order to qualify as an offence under the Act. These include virtually all forms of violent crimes including murder, kidnapping, robbery, banditry, intimidation, extortion, grievous violence, damage to property, barring public servants from their duties and inciting hatred and contempt through religion. Section 6 (3) further broadens the scope of the law by providing that any types of actions that involve the use of firearms, explosives, or any other weapons are acts of terrorism regardless of whether they satisfy the requirements under section 6(1)(c). This effectively categorizes all acts of violence involving any form of weapons as acts of terrorism regardless of whether they were committed in furtherance of a political or ideological motivation that is central to all acts of terrorism.51 51 See Umair Javed “Ideology and Terrorism”. Inter Press Service. 18 July 2016. Available at http://www.ipsnews.net/2016/07/ideology-and-terrorism/ TRIAL AND TERROR 13