Terrorism a global menace: President

Terming terrorism "a global menace", President Pranab Mukherjee Saturday said that the rise in terrorism incidentss pose a "serious challenge" that will define the way the lives we lead but stressed that values of justice and freedom cannot be compromised with.

The president, in a message to the International Conference of Jurists on international terrorism said: "In the fight against terror, we cannot compromise on the priceless values of justice, freedom, liberty and equality enshrined in our Constitution."

Mukherjee's message, which was read out at the conference held at Vigyan Bhawan, said "terrorism is today one of the most potent threats to international and national security".

The president and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in their messages also cautioned that fight against terrorism did not leave scope for compromising with liberty and freedom.

The message from the Prime Minister's office said: "The prime minister has always supported legislations to strengthen the substantive anti-terrorism law in line with the global consensus on the fight against terrorism."

The conference was addressed by National Human Rights Commission chairman and former Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, former Supreme Court judge Justice V.S. Sirpurkar, Justice M.K. Sharma, and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who said the country is working towards training and better equipping its forces to tackle terrorism.

The conference was organised by International Council of Jurists, All India Bar Association and the Indian Council of Jurists.