The recent controversy over the alleged misuse of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in Jharkhand has raised some fundamental questions regarding the counter-Naxal strategy adopted by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the worst Naxal-affected states of India; POTA had been used in an ad hoc manner and not as part of a comprehensive strategy to deal with left-wing extremism.

A team of civil society activists toured six districts of Jharkhand between January 29 and February 3, 2003 and concluded, “all the laws of the land are replaced by POTA.â€Â