Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Not the solution by Abdul Khaliq

Not the solution by Abdul Khaliq

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Sep 14, 2011   modified Modified on Sep 14, 2011

With the National Integration Council discussing the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill drafted by the National Advisory Council (NAC), the consensus against the legislation has been consolidated. Till then, the charge had been led primarily by the archetypal minority bashers, the constituents of the Sangh Parivar, who refused to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth about communal and targeted violence — that it is minorities and Dalits who bear the brunt; that there is an institutional bias against them. Giving the most preposterous and perverse interpretation of the bill, VHP President Ashok Singhal said, “If this bill is passed... non-Hindus will have the power to terrorise Hindus.”

Post-independence India has seen many communal and caste conflagrations that have heightened the fears of the weaker sections of society. The brutal reality is that minorities have been the prime victims of communal and targeted violence. Far from the situation improving with time, the worst incidents of communal and targeted violence have occurred in the last 30 years. The Sikh massacre of 1984, the 1993 Mumbai riots, the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 and the Kandhamal killings are examples of the terrible atrocities committed against minorities. And in each case, the state has been charged with complicity.

The NAC’s is an ambitious draft designed to ensure that all citizens enjoy the protection of the state, regardless of religion, language or caste. Its main focus is to put in place mechanisms that would eliminate institutional bias against the weaker sections and “breach the culture of impunity”. Notwithstanding the noble intentions behind the draft bill, will it make the situation better for these troubled groups?

A refrain heard during communal rioting is, “They deserve it.” This is a constant, frightening reminder of the enormous divide that separates communities in times of crises. A legislation of this kind may facilitate the fundamentalist forces to whip up a frenzy — a reason the minorities should be disinclined to it. After all, how else can one explain the fact that the very dispensation in power during the genocide in Gujarat in 2002 won two successive state elections with a massive mandate? The Congress swept to power in the aftermath of the Sikh massacre. The gory happenings in Kandhamal in 2008 did not affect the electoral fortunes of the party in power.

Also, several such blueprints for the betterment of the minorities, in the form of laws, acts and commissions of inquiry, have remained frozen as ineffective good intentions. The most sacred of our laws, the Constitution, contains a number of articles that guarantee the rights of minorities and weaker sections to lead lives of dignity and equality. But they continue to be victimised. The Srikrishna Commission Report on the Mumbai riots of 1992-93 indicted the Shiv Sena for provoking the killings. It also recommended action against 31 policemen, including the then joint commissioner of police. Not one of them has been brought to book. No matter how stringent the law, justice can never be meted out if agencies of the state do not wish to implement those laws. When the existing laws are being flouted with impunity, there is no purpose whatsoever in framing another act that depends, for its success, on those very agencies that have failed to deliver justice in the past. Rigorous implementation of the existing laws is what is needed, not a new law.

Despite the pious proclamations that accompanied the setting up of the Sachar Committee to analyse the status of Muslims, the report is in cold storage, as is the report of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities headed by Justice Ranganath Mishra. The government would better serve the interests of the minorities by acting on the recommendations of these two committees instead of fanning the flames of communal discord with this draft bill.

The writer, a former civil servant, is secretary-general of the Lok Janshakti Party

The Indian Express, 14 September, 2011, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/not-the-solution/846137/


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close