Saturday, November 19, 2011

‘Table Communal Violence Bill early'

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2640052.ece
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  Mumbai, November 19, 2011 'Table Communal Violence Bill early'

For four months the government has been silent on the Bill: Naqvi

The United Progressive Alliance government has not delivered on its promise
of bringing in legislation against communal violence. After initial talks,
the Centre has fallen silent on the Prevention of Communal and Targeted
Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill which needs speedy
tabling, a panel comprising drafters of the legislation said at a meeting
here on Friday.

"Not just the leadership, but the executive too have failed to give equal
justice under the existing law and this failure has gone unchecked,"
National Advisory Council (NAC) member Harsh Mander said.

On the argument about biased approaches toward the accused along communal
lines, Mr. Mander cited the instance of the recently released accused of
the Malegaon 2006 blast case.

In this case and several others before it, "as long as the accused were
Muslims, flimsy allegations, rumours were enough to keep them in jail. But
when the accused is from the Hindu faith you need the highest standard of
investigation and proof," he said.

Another NAC member Farah Naqvi said: "Today the ball is firmly in the
government's court. For four months the government has been silent. We
waited for a democratic dialogue to take place to address the concerns. If
the UPA is sincere, they should do it now."

Former Judge Hosed Suresh questioned the delay to bring in the law. "Are we
to go on a fast? People know what happened in this country. We have enough
laws, but what happened with them? We need a new law to care for those who
have been targeted. The government should not hesitate to table the Bill in
the Parliament."

"We are still debating this [bill] when it should have been a law by now."

Mr. Suresh said fears that the law would not be able to stand
Constitutional scrutiny were needless. "We have defined women and scheduled
castes and tribes in the Constitution. I find no justification that it will
not stand Constitutional scrutiny," he said.

*Official complicity*

Mr. Mander said when the Constitution was framed, the "expectation" was
that "the State and the police would stand by the victims, be fair and
defend the Constitution and the citizens without any partisanship,
prejudice, discussion or hatred." This vision was far removed from the
reality.

Official complicity in a crime was a crime "of a different nature," Mr.
Mander said. The Bill made officials "criminally accountable" for
dereliction of duty.

"While our criminal justice system was structured around the rights of the
accused, while the State's responsibility was to protect the victims. But
what happens when the State is on the side of the accused? Then there is
systematic subversion of justice," Mr. Mander said, pointing to a large
number of cases in the Mumbai riots and Gujarat being summarily closed.

*Sexual assault*

Ms. Naqvi said the Bill encompassed forms of brutal sexual assault on the
bodies of women, which had no definition in the existing Indian Penal Code
laws related to women.

"This law creates new sexual offences. The kind not recognised in the
existing laws. If a woman's body has been mutilated [in the private parts]
she cannot prove it's rape. This law defines sexual assault for the first
time. We want the government to put these definitions in the current laws,"
Ms. Naqvi said.

She sought to dispel the notions that communal violence was a thing of the
past. "Paramakudi, Moradabad, Gopalpur, Rudrapur; how many more victims,
SITs [Special Investigation Teams], CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation]
enquiries, Supreme Court interventions are needed?" she asked.
Staff Reporter

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