Communal Violence Bill based on hate philosophy – Hilda Raja

I belong to a minority community and the reading of the so-called Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill 2011 was shocking to say the least.

I have touched only on one aspect-namely the ‘group’ and ‘the others’. The proposed Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill 2011 seems to be drafted by Nazi mentality persons who are hell bend on communalizing the nation and ultimately destroying this country. It is just not senseless but drafted with malefic intention and purport. The very terminology is misleading because this is not prevention of communalism but arousing and abetting communalism. Again why the term ‘targeted violence’? It should have been simply violence. It starts thus with assumptions and presumptions that violence is targeted which means violence is directed against specific targets (read here Muslims) this assumes that the perpetrators are non-Muslims. It is flawed right from the caption and the minds that sat down to scribble-not draft this Bill had preconceived notions and a hidden agenda which found its expression in the so-called bill.

First I would like to question the authority of the National Advisory Council (NAC) to draft such a bill. Why an extra constitutional body should be engaged in this task. Do we not have ministers – the cabinet and government advisors to the Prime Minister – a group of empowered ministers to take up the task. All these are paid by the common people’s tax money and apart from these, a super body with handpicked anti-Modi, anti Hindu persons to form the NAC with an Italian heading it to abet the disintegration of this nation. This cannot go and it will be relevant if Baba Ramdev and the Anna Team joins together to throw this bill into the dustbin of history. This is their obligatory duty because corruption is one but the survival of the country as a nation comes first. This so-called bill cannot go even if redrafted because from A to Z it is flawed. It is seditious and treasonous.

A blatant and arbitrary division of the Indian people into ‘group’ and ‘others’ is made by the drafters of the Bill, which reveals the mala fide intent. It goes beyond mere appeasement of the Muslims but aims at disintegration of the country. The drafters have given the Muslims and the religious Minorities a free run of violence including rape which is a crime, but they have the license to commit these and go scot-free. The same criminality and violence committed by a Hindu calls for stringent punishment but if committed by the Muslims escape the law (this is worse than the jungle law).This because the Muslims and the Minorities are the ‘group’ and the Hindus are ‘the others’ ungrouped. The people thus are grouped into two – the victims – which is ‘the group’ and the perpetrators which are ‘the others.’ No country in the world except the Nazis had this mind-set when it came to the Jews. No civilized country would accept such blatant miscarriage of law and justice.

The Congress had right from the beginning been sowing divisive politics in the country on the basis of region, religion, caste and language. Now it is emboldened to reveal its devilry. Just two camps of people in the country – the victims and the perpetrators. So even before the violence the NAC has envisaged violence and that is directed against the Muslims and Minorities. Indian history does not vouch for this assumption. The drafters of the Bill presume that riots and violence are perpetrated by ‘the others’ (read Hindus). This is not true and not the reality. According to Ms Zenab Banu’s “Politics of communalism: a politico-historical analysis of communal riots in post independence India with special reference to the Gujarat and Rajasthan riots” (1989), there have been 74 communal riots between 1953 and 1977 of which 75 percent were instigated by Muslims. Even today 98 percent of terrorism cross border and /or Indian born is planned, instigated and perpetrated by Muslims. Only Islam has the Jihad and hence Jihadis. Yet P. Chidambaram could coolly make a reference to ‘saffron’ terror. This clearly indicates the mindset of the Congress.

The Communal Violence Bill is based on hate philosophy but even in this it is skewed. There have been riots in which Hindus were victims and Indian history stands testimony to the atrocities against Hindus, by the Muslim invaders – the destruction of temples and the desecration of Hindu gods and goddesses. In recent times the fate of the Kashmiri Pundits will vouch for this. The Hindus have been massacred, their homes have been burned and they have been driven out of the Valley. Till date no justice has been done. Is this because they belong to the ‘others’?

Violence is violence and criminality is criminality – it cannot change because of the victim and the perpetrator. These must to be snuffed out and the same penal code must address these crimes. The same laws must be applicable to all the citizens of India. This is their right. The proposed Bill violates the Constitution with immunity not only on federalism but on fundamental rights. How can a Parliament even look at it and waste its time. I shudder to think that the NAC have people sitting in it with such a mindset. And are we to pay for them out of our tax money?

To make this feasible the NAC is proposing to bring out two penal codes – one for the Hindus and the other for the religious minorities. It would be better then to say that the religious minorities do not come under any penal code – they can run amuck, commit crimes and indulge in violence .They will not be apprehended. If a nation divides its people on the basis of two sets of penal code, next it will seek two flags for the country: one for the group and the other for the Hindus. So a nation quietly and ingeniously divided into two. Do we need geographical partition? And in this divide which flag will the NAC hold? What about the national anthem? Which flag will be unfurled on the Independence Day? It is simply beyond my comprehension that the NAC could draft such an atrocious bill aimed at dividing the nation and get away with it. They must be charged for treason.

Let us hypothetically envisage that this Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill is passed and becomes a Bill. Then posthumously Rajiv Gandhi must be tried and sentenced. The Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar must be put on trial. The Congress government which was in power at the Centre with all those officers then in service must be tried and punished because they failed to prevent the butchering of the Sikhs, the arson and the rape. The Congress party must be banned. The history of this country does not start with the NAC and end with NAC.

One should have a sense of history and thus the same Bill drafted by the NAC will be first directed against the Congress party headed by Mrs Sonia Gandhi. It will end the NAC and will throw the Congress party out of the relevance of Indian history. What you sow you reap.

» Dr. Mrs. Hilda Raja was a Professor of Social Sciences at Stella Maris College, Chennai.

http://hildaraja.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/prevention-of-communal-and-targeted-violence-bill/