Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: December 7, 2005
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government,
which scrapped the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), has introduced the
Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill
in the Rajya Sabha. The message this conveys is simple: The country does not
need a special law to combat terrorism but requires one to deal with communal
riots and their fall-out.
If the sense of national priorities this indicates
leaves one breathless, so does the fact that the underlying assumption behind
POTA's revocation, that the law was draconian and unnecessary - the latter
because the authorities had enough powers under other statutes to deal with
terrorism - has not been considered applicable to the case of communal riots.
For the simple fact is that cross-border terrorism
has taken a much heavier toll of life - the number of deaths in Jammu &
Kashmir alone being over 60,000 over the past decade and half - than communal
riots. Besides, while Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism has stalked
the country continuously since in the late 1970s, communal riots have been
sporadic occurrences.
Not only that, the majority of these have
been of a minor nature. Clearly, in sharp contrast to the case of globalised
terrorism and the cross-border variety of it that India has to contend with,
the existing laws are enough to deal with communal riots.
Had this not been the case, the country would
have witnessed many more explosions of communal violence and these would have
taken a much greater toll of life and property than these have.
Indeed, given the size and diversity of the
country, the bitter legacy of the Partition in 1947, and the rise of religious
fanaticism, the incidence of communal violence has been remarkable low and
India has every reason to be proud of its record not only of communal harmony
but also of coping with communal violence. The Bill, therefore, is grossly
unnecessary and defamatory of the people of the country.
On top of all this, the Communal Violence
Bill provides for punishments that are in every sense draconian. It seeks
to double the term of imprisonment as provided under the Indian Penal Code,
prescribes heavy fines for the guilty and the payment of compensation by the
latter. It seeks to bar the guilty from holding any public office for six
years from the date of conviction.
It provides for the setting up of special
courts - including some outside the State concerned for ensuring a proper
environment for trials - for speedy disposal of cases, and effective witness
protection.
While all this seems to add up to an impressive
effort to ensure proper trial of and deterrent punishment to the guilty, the
fact remains that everything will ultimately depend on how communal riots
are dealt with and post-riot investigations are conducted.
Here no law can help if the law and order
machinery, which is in the hand of the State Governments, do not act. Given
this, and the record of the Congress in matters like illegal migration from
Bangladesh, it is difficult not to see the Communal Violence Bill, as yet
another move in its vote bank politics.
