Communal Violence Bill 2009: a boon or bane ?

Communal Violence Bill 2009 which recently received the nod of cabinet is expected to be tabled soon in Indian Parliament. Well, Before blindly appreciating UPA for bringing a new legislation which purportedly looks like minority friendly statute,it would be better to look into following Concerns. What promises are given in new version of the communal violence Bill? How different is it from the earlier version? Would it bring a silver line of hope for the most vulnerable and susceptible to the communal riots in India ? Whether the concerns of minorities who are the main targets and victims of the communal violence have been properly addressed in new bill..?

If you people feel the new piece of legislation is comprehensive in nature and avoids the apprehensions of minorities you will be landing in a wrong conception. Off course the new bill is not all a minority friend legislation but more vulnerable to abuses. It seems UPA only wants to gain an impression of being progressive and Messiah of vulnerable communities. Apart from that it doesn't have real care for minorities. If it is not so UPA would have meticulously worked out the new Communal Violence Bill so as to avoid the concerns of minorities.

The important adding up to this Bill is it gives an authority to the states to declare an area communally disturbed. This particular clause is likely to be misused by the state governments. Vrinda Grover , a Delhi-based human rights lawyer, is director of Multiple Action Research Group (MARG) says the new Communal Violence Bill Bill is a nasty piece of legislation to hoodwink and dupe the minority communities under the garb they will get protection. On the contrary, it will only make them more vulnerable to the powers of the government and the states.

inadequacies of the Bill

We have witnessed so many communal violence in the past. Majority of the communal violence is an outcome of the inefficiency of the concerned state agencies. Especially as observed by the international human right organizations Gujarat communal Violence was purely state sponsored and the main culprit was police. So it was expected that the new bill will take this point into consideration. But The Bill doesn't create any accountability for the state and the various agencies. According Ms. Vrinda Grover* another defect is this Bill does not follow the Doctrine of Command and Superior Responsibility that is, it will not hold the man at the helm of affairs responsible for communal rioting and carnage. For example, in the Ehsan Jaffri murder case, his widow says they had called/contacted the police commissioner when they were besieged by mobs during the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, but he didn't respond and come to their rescue. So the person held responsible for Jaffri's murder/killing should be the then police commissioner of Ahmedabad and not some small players or people who were in the mob.

More over the new bill has completely neglected the sexual violence that take place during communal rioting/carnage. The Bill does not even cover the very consequences of the aftermath of sexual violence. The bill overlooks the states obligation to provide relief to the victims of communal violence.
The new Bill does not touch the concept absolute immunity that the police force enjoys. The 'good faith' clause in the bill ensures that no prosecution of the police and public servants is permitted without the prior permission of the executive.So it is easy for executive to shield the culprit officers.

So let us demand UPA to make the necessary amendments to the Bill and incorporate some exemplary clauses in it for the protection of targeted communitiies. Otherwise the new bill would not be a boon for Minorities but it will surely be a bane.

* Interview to Times of India