Urgent Apeal ! Only two more days left – Say No to Communal Violence Bill

We oppose this proposed act and we request All Indians of all religions to share their opposition by mailing the NAC on


[email protected]




  till 10th june 2011 The website is http://nac.nic.in/communal/com_bill.htm

We further request you to send us a BCC on [email protected] so that we may be able to compile the surge of protests and submit to all key political parties and to the media, so as to truly safeguard the “secular fabric of India”



The basic premise behind this new bill is deeply flawed and anti-federal.

This draft bill however proceeds on a presumption that communal trouble is created only by members of the majority community and never by a member of the minority community. Thus, offences committed by members of the majority community against members of the minority community are punishable. Identical offences committed by minority groups against the majority are not deemed to be offences at all.

Page 50: Another insight into the communally prejudiced mindset with which this bill was written becomes evident within the section on “Guarantee of non-repetition” “The search for the bodies of those killed or disappeared and assistance in the identification and reburial of the bodies in accordance with the cultural practices of the families and communities.”
This means, NAC  have made the assumption that perpetrators will always be Hindus and the victims will always be Muslims or Christians!

Offences which are defined under the bill have been deliberately left vague. Communal and targeted violence means violence which destroys the ‘secular fabric of the nation’.

There can be legitimate political differences as to what constitutes secularism. The
phrase secularism can be construed differently by different persons. Which definition is the judge supposed to follow?

Page 10 : The Bill’s anti-federal character becomes clear on when it seeks to
confer on the Central Government the power to intervene. Democratically elected governments will be required by law to explain within 7 days why the National Authority directives were not complied with – The setting up of a parallel structure within the states called the “State Authority” If the proposed bill becomes a law- central government  will snatch the jurisdiction of the states and legislated on a subject squarely within the domain of the states.

 
Page 33: absurd provision- demand for proportional representation of religious and linguistic minorities in Special Public Prosecutor Panels.

It is also ironic that the NAC have adopted definitions from the much maligned Maharashtra Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) and TADA despite having opposed similar legislations pending from other non- Congress states.

 
Thus a sexual assault is punishable under this bill and only if committed against a person belonging to a minority ‘group’. A member of a majority community in a state does not fall within the purview of a ‘group’.

 A ‘hate propaganda’ is an offence against minority community and not otherwise. Organised and targeted violence, hate propaganda, financial help to such persons who commit an offence, torture or dereliction of duty by public servants are all offences only if committed against a member of the minority community and not otherwise.

No member of the majority community can ever be a victim!

This draft law thus proceeds on an assumption which re-defines the offences in a highly discriminatory manner. No member of the minority community are to be punished under this act for having committed the offence against the majority community.

If implemented in a manner as provided by this bill, it opens up a huge scope for abuse.It can incentivise members of some communities to commit such offences encouraged by the fact that they would never be charged under the act.

Terrorist groups may no longer indulge in terrorist violence. They will be incentivised to create communal riots due to a statutory assumption that members of a jihadi group will not be punished under this law. The law makes only members of the majority community culpable.

Why should the law discriminate on the basis of a religion or caste?

An offence is an offence irrespective of origin of the offender. Here is a proposed law
being legislated in the 21st century where caste and religion of an offender wipe out the culpability under this law.

The most disturbing aspect of the Bill is under“Defenders for Justice and Reparations” where in the state authority can appoint any random individual and empower him or her with an interventionist role.

 In conclusion it must be noted that this Bill stands out for the contempt and disregard with which it holds the Parliament of India by offering NO ROLE to Parliament in the removal of members appointed to the proposed “National Authority”.

The word Parliament occurs exactly 4 times in the entire draft bill. There is no mention in the entire draft bill on how exactly the proposed “National Authority” will be accountable to Parliament for its interventionist conduct beyond the token act of placing its annual report during the monsoon session.

Bottomline : This bill has been written with just one Act of Communal Violence in mind – Gujarat 2002. It makes a mockery of the Sikh Victims of the Rajiv Gandhi lead Congress sponsored 1984 riots in Delhi by assuming that all Victims by default are Christian or Muslim. This bill is Anti-Federal and goes against the spirit and grain of the Constitution. It must be junked in toto.

This is not the first time this has been attempted. An effort in the past to pin down Narendra Modi by invoking a non-existent Command Doctrine failed when it was pointed out that there was no Indian Law on the same. The Communal Violence Bill by trying to invoke the Doctrine of Command Responsibility essentially makes India party to provisions of the Rome Statute despite not being a signatory to it.

The drafting of this bill appears to be a handiwork of those social entrepreneurs who
have learnt from the Gujarat experience of how to fix senior leaders even when they are not liable for an offence.

For Sample protest letters submitted by Nationalists so far
http://no2communalviolencebill.blogspot.com/

Also Read
Why this bill need to be oppossed Tooth and Nail
https://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=13900&SKIN=B

 

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