It is a matter of concern that even after 69 years of Independence the country is lacking in social cohesion and societal schism, of late, has become even more pronounced with burgeoning communal incidents across the country. Successive governments in Delhi have done precious little to combat the communal virus that thrives in the puddle of putrid politics and polemics over “secular” and “Hindutva” ideologies. The predilection to treat sectarian violence as mere law and order problem has not helped either. Time has come to revisit the issue and treat communal riots as a national scourge. As back as in 2005, the UPA government had tabled a bill in Parliament to prevent “targeted” communal violence; albeit a bold move, the Congress, lacking political will abandoned the project towards the fag end of UPA II tenure in the face of stiff opposition from the BJP, Left and some regional parties.
The proposed law mandated duties on the Central and state governments and domain officers to exercise their powers “in an impartial and non-discriminatory manner to prevent and control targeted violence, including mass violence, against religious or linguistic minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.” The Opposition stalled the law on the ground that it encroaches on the rights of the States. The “anti-federal” legislation was an intrusion into the federal structure of the country, they averred. The BJP contested the very premise of the bill saying it aimed at protecting only the religious and linguistic minority from violence by a majority group and questioned “how could the law presume that the majority community is always responsible for communal riots”. Some parties took objection to the provision allowing transfer of communal cases outside the state for just trial. The law, if passed, could not only have checked spread of communal riots but also prevented shameful incidents such as the one in Una, Gujarat, last year where some of Dalit youths were stripped and whipped publicly for trading in cow.
The bill also sought creation of a National Authority for Communal Harmony, Justice and Reparation authorities for grievance redressal. The National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, which drafted the original bill in consultation with civil society, felt the NACH could exercise its powers under the law and investigate incidents of communal violence anywhere in the country.
Between 2007 and 2010 several attempts were made to pass the law but in vain. In 2011, the NAC revised the bill – The Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill for the home ministry and after several rounds of consultations the latter tossed it to the law ministry for legal vetting. In February 2014, then home minister made a last-ditch attempt to introduce a re-drafted version: “The Prevention of Communal Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill,” but was forced to abandon the move.
Arun Jaitley, leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, objected to the introduction saying “the central government has absolutely no jurisdiction in bringing such a Bill” and that the Bill is entirely beyond the legislative competence of Parliament. UPA minister Kapil Sibal countered Jaitley. Referring to the 2002 Gujarat riots, he argued that “If it is state-sponsored communal activity, then it is not a law and order issue.” The Bill would not violate the federal structure and that any action by the central government would be with the consent of State governments. But the chair disallowed the introduction sensing the mood of the House. That was the end of this seminal bill.
A teen in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas writes an “objectionable” Facebook post about Prophet Mohammad (July 4), and it triggers sudden, vicious communal flare-up leading to violent clashes between two communities and verbal exchanges between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor K.N. Tripathi and some BJP leaders calling for President’s rule in the state. It is not clear whether a Class X student has been communally so conditioned as to post such scurrilous stuff in the social media or is it that someone out to create mischief for political or ideological reasons used him? Around the same time, in Goa, scores of crosses were reportedly vandalised to destroy amity between Hindus and Christians.
Politicians and those in government in particular, have not come out with any alternative mechanism or proposal to stamp out this national blight. The jettisoned bill empowered the Centre to declare an area communally disturbed for deploying security forces even without the consent of the State. Colin Gonsalves, senior Supreme Court lawyer and founder-director of Human Rights Law Network, who apparently was consulted by the stakeholders, welcomed the bill. In a media interview then he argued, “Communalism is a national conspiracy. It hits at the basic tenets of the Constitution, undermines the nation state and that a law is needed at the national level. Communalism, like terrorism, could not be seen only as a law and order problem. A hate speech, like a terror incident, may happen in a taluka but the (communal) conspiracy has to be uncovered nationally.”
In 1984, communally charged mobs targeted the Sikhs and in the 2002 Gujarat riots Muslims were the targets while Odisha’s Kandhamal witnessed a communal pogrom in 2007 where Christians were the victims. In 2013, Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh witnessed large-scale sectarian clashes resulting in 62 deaths (both Muslims and Hindus). These are, in addition to several low intensity incidents, by and large ignored by the national media. Thousands of human lives are lost, property worth billions destroyed hampering development and the psyche of people deeply scarred and India gets a bad name globally as a modern, civilised nation. And who gains? Of late, communal incidents have acquired a sinister complexion. Modi government should revisit the bill and pass it after addressing genuine concerns. For the sake of humanity at least, the lawmakers should sink their differences and find an effective mechanism to curb the recurring bloodbath in the name of Gods.
The author is an independent journalist.
