New law against communal violence futile without the political will

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said sometime back that the government would soon bring in a model comprehensive law to tackle communal violence in the country. For reasons best known to it, the Samajwadi Party decided to oppose this Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005.
The state’s opposition to the proposed legislation stemmed from the fact that under the Constitution, law and order is a state subject, and any Central law on the subject should be operative only in Union territories. Any law that does otherwise negates the spirit of the Constitution. And if the Centre is given the power to interfere in one subject on the state list, the intrusion may soon spread to other subjects as well. Legal opinion provided to the state cautioned that through the bill, the Centre will have sweeping powers as in an Emergency.
The UPA’s Common Minimum Programme had promised a separate comprehensive law on communal violence under which investigations would be carried out only by Central agencies and prosecution by special courts. Mr Patil’s statement indicates that the government intends bringing in legislation to contain communal violence.Some have questioned the need for new legislation on the matter. After all, there are several laws to take care of such situations. For instance, Section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code provides for punishment for any act, which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, linguistic, or regional groups or castes or communities and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity. There is legislation to tackle the inciting of violence and so on. Existing legislation to tackle communal violence has failed in the past because of poor implementation and a lack of political will. As evident in Gujarat in 2002, the attack on minorities assumed the immense proportions it did because the BJP government in the state along with the police force was complicit in the violence and refused to take steps to arrest its spread. There is no guarantee that the Central government would necessarily act to check communal violence if the state government is reluctant to do so. The BJP-led government in the centre simply looked the other way in the case of Gujarat. The Congress was in power at the Centre and in Maharashtra in 1992, when communal violence broke out after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The Centre took no action when the Maharashtra government did not act effectively to halt the violence.No communal riot can occur if the government and its law and order machinery are determined to prevent or arrest the spread of such violence and virus. The need for keeping the intelligence apparatus in a fine fettle and making effective use of the input for nipping the trouble in the bud is also equally crucial. What is needed is political will to prevent the spread of the communal virus. The proposed new law could end up as just another piece of legislation if the government does not back it with effective implementation.
The raging violence in UP at present is an indicator how small incidents can turn barbarous, if the political will is only to seek benefits in elections, no matter at what costs. And if Congress has opened up a front against SP at the moment, it is merely because it is in opposition at the moment. Otherwise, Congress too can be blamed for many a riots in the past. Even the Srikrishna Commission that was attempting to unearth the names of those who were responsible for Mumbai riots that led to more than 1000 people killed and looting, arson and rape continuing for days, was terminated without a whimper, thus protecting the identities of those involved in the riots, including some policemen, perhaps forever.

Both BJP and SP set to gain from communal riots

If the eyes are on elections, who is bothered if a few more innocents get killed or their belongings looted in the communal riots that have begun spreading like forest-fire almost immediately after the dawn of the election year in UP. Ironically, two political parties perceived to be poles apart, at least ideologically, that is the SP and the BJP, are set to gain if the communal violence happens and spreads to other parts of the UP.
Large scale desertions had happened in the past both from BJP and SP, more so in the case of later due to it being in power for the last three and a half years. The shift was naturally towards Congress and BSP. With these riots, a great number of voters on periphery are sure to return to the folds of either the BJP or the SP. This is the vote politics of a pseudo-democracy like that of UP. You may call it the riot politics as well!
Mayawati is not far off the mark when she alleges that Samajwadi Party and BJP leaders had planned communal violence in Gorakhpur and neighbouring districts to serve their vested political interests.
“Both SP and BJP have lost the confidence of people and their base is shrinking fast. To regain the lost ground both the parties are indulging in the politics of communal violence”, she said. Cautioning the Muslims, she said they should understand the designs of both parties.
More communal violence would take place in the state in the coming days, she claimed and added that she had submitted memorandum to the Governor and the UPA government seeking dismissal of the State government and imposition of President’s rule, but in vain.
“Law and order is deteriorating in the State and jungle raj is prevailing. If people want that their sisters and daughters to remain safe and Muslims want to take revenge for Kareli madarsa and Ranipur rape case, they must vote Samajwadi Party out of power,” she said adding that it were the Samajwadi party leaders who were involved in Kareli madarsa (Allahabad) and Ranipur village (Jaunpur) rape case.
Evidently, Mayawati too is playing her cards, so as to reap the maximum out of the riots. So is the BJP. And who are the victims? Hutments of members of a particular community were set on fire in Behrampur in the wee hours recently. Shops belonging to members of a particular community too were torched. Miscreants tried to brun alive a member of a particular community when he was returning home after offering evening prayers in Singhadia locality, under Khorabar police station. Arsonists set ablaze a passenger train, attempted to burn Godan Express and torched vehicles. Another train was set ablaze at Tulsipur in Balrampur district on the metre guage section between Gorakhpur and Gonda. Two compartments of a train at Salempur railway station in Deoria district were also burnt. Buses too were burnt. Some activists of Hindu Yuva Vahini set on fire a government bus and held its driver and conductor hostage in Gurma village under Madhuban police station. All this seems to be offshoot of a well-planned strategy. After all, elections have dangerously close. And arrest of local BJP MP Yogi Adityanath is only an excuse.

Communal violence not a new phenomenon
Communal violence is not a new phenomenon in India. Prior to Independence they occurred because the rulers of the time benefited because of the Hindu-Muslim divide. Hence such divisionary tactics were framed and the riots fanned; most common example being the incidents of Meerut and Lucknow that resulted in the First War of Independence, 1857. Thereafter, riots continued to erupt, be it in Calcutta or be it in Punjab.
Post Independence, riots seem to have become a weapon in the armoury of political parties. Riots after demolition of Babri Masjid and not just the demolition catapulted BJP to power. The same happened in Gujarat where Narendra Modi had almost lost the election due to internal fights and anti-incumbency factors. The same is the case now as the BJP needs issues or passions to help it in the elections and if the political pundits predicted riots in UP much before, this was because they knew of the politics that politicians play.
One thing that is noteworthy in the present riots in UP is the inevitable presence of RSS or its sister organizations wherever the riots occur. At places it is in the form of Hindu Yuva Vahini, at other places in the form of Bajrang Dal or simply RSS workers. Even Yogi Adityanath and his supporters are known RSS sympathizers.

Political will needed to curb communal violence
Year 2007 has just begun and so has begun cases of communal violence in India. One precious life was lost and three others were injured in police firing to quell communal violence in Bangalore that flared up in eastern parts of the city during a RSS-sponsored procession as part of ‘Viraat Hindu Mahotsav’ recently. Several others were injured in the rioting that followed. A few days earlier, 50 persons were injured and several houses attacked after a protest against the execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussain turned violent. And now the entire Eastern UP is reeling under communal tension, owing to arrest of BJP MP Yogi Adityanath.
Communal violence is not a new phenomenon in India, fuelled as it is by the fundamentalist forces on both sides.
Communal violence in India has reached unprecedented levels in the 1990s. Where conflicts were once localized, they now occur on a national scale. At the level of rhetoric, the government claims to be committed to secularism and nondiscrimination. However, the government shows a conspicuous tendency to ignore the scale of violence and human suffering during communal violence. Laxity in enforcing the law and the failure to punish those involved sends the wrong signals to both law-breakers and law enforcers across the country.

The racist Britons

Actress Shilpa Shetty has just won what she couldn’t accomplish all her career. Huge money, endorsement offers, meaty film roles, fame and even big money for giving ‘exclusive’ tabloid and TV interviews. Eventually, she would give so many of them that none of the interview would remain ‘exclusive’. Why refuse money when it is coming!
We surely have reasons to delight at her award unless and until we ponder over reasons that enabled her to get it. No doubt, racism in Britain is still predominantly present and the alleged racist comments by certain participants in the show were just an off-shoot of the prevailing undercurrent. After all, it were the grand fathers and great grand fathers of the present-day generation who had written “Dogs and Indians not allowed” outside restaurants or thrown a well-dressed, well-educated person named Gandhi out of a train. The treatment meted out by the Memsahibs and their male counterparts are still written in the annals of our past literature.
We are deriving too much out of a stray incident, some of you may say. As proof to substantiate what we are saying, we cite certain passages from column ‘London Diary’ by Anil Thakraney written in Outlook (November 26, 2006) prior to the shaping of events and controversies surrounding Shilpa Shetty.
In his column Thakraney mentions of “suspicion and derision” merely because he was ‘brown’. He writes: “One legendary taboo in London is making eye contact inside the tubes. It’s always been considered offensive to stare at the fellow commuter. The locals arm themselves with newspapers and books mainly to avoid any possibilities of eye contact. Well, apart from other things, the terrorists have changed this, too. I am stared at long and hard, usually with a mixture of suspicion and derision. Because not only am I ‘brown’, I cheerfully move around with a rather bulky green-coloured backpack. Never felt so important in London before.”
At another place he writes: “Most locals (living around London’s Finsbury Park mosque), I gather from any letters to editors, want the mosque eliminated ASAP. And Jack Straw wants the irritating veil unveiled.”
All this is happening because of the aftermaths of 9/11 and train-bombings that killed several people; you may say as a counter. But what would you say if a white policemen stares from beneath your daughter’s skirt up to her panties. Do they harbour suspicions that bombs can be carried inside? Sample this passage from Tahkraney’s column:
“On a night out at the happening Bond Street, I spot a group of overzealous white cops bodysearch some rappin’ Black teens. Reminds me of that provocative scene in Crash, where a racist cop orgasmically fingers a black lady up her panties. Mercifully, on this occasion, the officer is only looking up the girl’s skirt (swear, I didn’t make this up). And what exactly is their crime, I enquire. “The youngsters are suspected of soliciting and drug-dealings on the streets,” coolly informs Steve, one of the policemen. The tamasha carries on for a while, until one female member loudly accuses the cops of being unfairly racist, and threatens to file counter-charges. Taken aback, the policemen quickly disappear into the night. Makes me wonder. Shouldn’t they be focusing their energies on brainwashed Muslim kids of Brick Lane? Why go after soft targets? Mumbai mein bhi aisa hota hain, na?” (As long as they are Muslims, the media won’t complain.)
How would you react if our own Mumbaiite cop does this with a European lady visiting or staying in our country? After all, suspicions of drug-peddling by certain white-skinned Europeans have surfaced from time to time.
All this is prompting me to become racist for a while. Kudos to Ratan Tata who through purchase of British steel-giant Corus has shown the mettle, that ‘Brown’ is definitely a stronger colour than ‘white’.