On the Communal Violence Bill 2011

by Teesta Setalvad on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 1:37am

The Communal Violence Bill 2011 (CVB) is legislative and judicial recognition of the fact that religious and linguistic minorities need protection when mass and targeted crimes are committed due to the majoritarian bias that has crept into our democratic institutional framework especially the administration, police and judiciary.

As far as fair, substantive and prompt compensation and reparation is awarded under the Bill it is equally provided for, to both members of the majority and minority who have suffered physical and other losses. Only as far as punishment and prosecution is concerned the law will protect the minority group. It will apply when a majoritarian bais works to affect the life and dignity of the minority group. Sections of the IPC do and are used when minority communalists attack the majority. How can those parties who are harbinger of majoritarianism, divide and rule and hatred and division within Indian politics understand or acknowledge this?

Moreover the Bill addresses the issue of Chain of Command responsibility, ensures that Sanction for Prosecuting Public Officials does not obstruct the course of Justice and Guarantees Cameras in the Courtrooms. Most of the decisive provisions if and when the Bill is passed and becomes Law will ensure safeguards against destruction of Evidence and Protection of Victim and Witness Survivor Rights. All this should ensure deterrence which surely should be the social object of any law?

Towards a Riot Free India.

Debates around Draft of Communal Violence Bill

 Ram Puniyani

India has been subject to communal violence right from the first Post Partition riot of 1961 in Jabalpur. Later one saw the intensification of this violence in the decade of 1980, from which time it has become a major issue disrupting peace and amity amongst religious communities. The most disturbing of these riots have been the Anti-Sikh Pogrom of 1984 (Delhi) anti Muslim carnage of 1992-93 (Mumbai in particular) and 2002 (Gujarat). Anti Christian violence surfaced with the sporadic acts and went on becoming worsening, the burning alive of Pastor Graham Stains (1999) and Kandhmal violence of 2008 being the horrific example of this.

With this concern the UPA introduced a Bill to strengthen legal mechanism to deal with the violence. Somehow the bill as drafted earlier turned out to be 'a remedy worse that disease'. Though this Bill is already in Rajya Sabha the human rights activists and representations from affected minority communities protested and pointed out the fallacies of the Bill. Responding to their anguish, UPA II gave the task of drafting the bill to National Advisory Committee. Two of whose members (Farah Naqvi and Harsh Mander) convened the Advisory Group with social activists to prepare a draft. After the intense efforts for over a period of one and a half years the draft is in the final stage May 2011), and has been put on its websites and is awaiting the final touch up before being submitted to the Government.