Events & Issues

New Delhi, 1 August 2011

Communal Violence

RELIGION MAY HELP NIP IT

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

All States shall soon have to put their machinery into top gear to tackle the ever-growing menace of communal and targeted violence. Significantly, the long-pending Prevention of Communal and Targeted (PCTV) Bill, which has been finalised and is expected to be tabled this monsoon session of Parliament, gains critical importance. Remember, the demand for a law to curb communal violence has been hanging fire since long. Even the Sri Krishna Commission report on the Mumbai riots of 1992-93 stressed the need for such a law as the minorities seeking justice had to face complicity and institutional bias among different public authorities and State officials.

In fact, a frenzy of communal hatred has erupted in the country in which thousands of innocent lives have been lost. According to the PRS Legislative Research of Delhi, between 2005 and 2009 as many as 648 people were killed and around 12,000 injured in 4030 incidents of communal violence.

Accordingly, the Bill proposes that if there is no response to a request for prosecution of a public servant within 30 days, “sanction to prosecute will be deemed granted”. Apart from this, the National Advisory Council (NAC) made 49 amendments compared to the earlier draft prepared by the UPA-I Government.

The Bill intends to enhance the accountability of the State when it comes to acts of hate-based targeted violence against a non-dominant group. It recognizes that such a group in a State may be vulnerable to institutional bias and thus needs special support.

As is generally agreed, communal and targeted violence spreads mainly because public officials with responsibility for controlling it either fail to act or do so in a biased manner. The present draft not only takes care of this lacuna in the Indian law, but also casts legal duties on the State “to provide rescue, relief, rehabilitation, compensation and restitution to victims”. Sadly, as of now compensation depends on the whims of politicians and bureaucrats.

It is significant that the Bill envisages the creation of a National Authority for Communal Harmony, Justice and Reparation. It will comprise a chairperson, vice chairperson and five other members. Of them, no fewer than four members are supposed to belong to a minority group. However, experts are of the opinion that by limiting its power to receiving and investigating complaints of violence and of dereliction of duty on the part of officials, the Bill is destined to be a toothless body. Some senior advocates feel the need for giving judicial powers so as to compel State governments to take action.

A controversial amendment to the Bill relates to the definition of communal and targeted violence as something that leads to the “destruction of the secular fabric”. It was felt by NAC that this was too high a threshold and therefore this phrase has been deleted. However, others feel that this hard indictment could have achieved a definite purpose.

Though activists and minority community leaders are more or less happy that the law is at last to become a reality, certain other steps are simultaneously needed to tackle communal violence. This includes awareness generation, specially among students and youth and orientation about the basic tenets of the major religions as also their teachings of love, fellow feeling and tolerance. 

There has been virtually no organised attempt to inculcate among the young generation the synthesis in the teachings of the major religions and that violence and hatred do not find a place in them. As such, there can be no reason whatsoever to incite the masses and cause loss of lives and property. If the youth are wedded to the philosophy of their religious beliefs, they would never resort to any sort of violence but in turn try to defuse such anti-social activities.

The moot question, however, remains: Who would take the lead in generating awareness about the tenets of the major religions of the country and how their philosophies synthesize. The National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH), under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, which has been inactive for the past few years, has finally now taken an initiative to enroll ‘Shanti Sena’ (‘Peace Volunteers’) all over the country.

This national network of volunteers would be expected to work as: facilitators/social change agents for promoting social harmony when peace and social cohesion between communities is disturbed; spread awareness peace and harmony in their respective communities and neighbourhoods; and take active participation in the Communal Harmony Campaign Week observed by NFCH between November 19 and 25 all over the country.

An important suggested activity of the volunteers would be to organize workshops or kavi sammelans/mushairas or any such cultural programmes to promote peace and harmony. But the ideal thing would be to have sadbhavana clubs, the responsibility for which should be given to known NGOs in the area. These clubs could organize monthly inter-faith dialogues and meetings with youth in and around the neighbourhood. But making these programmes successful would entail the NFCH to become very active and forge partnerships with NGOs, media, corporate houses and also with panchayats and districts officials at the grass-root level. Moreover, huge funds would have to be made available to make these programmes participatory and meaningful.

Apart from the Foundation, the various chambers of commerce could also earmark some funds for spreading the message of peace, love and harmony of the various religions – at least in some selected areas. Remember, next year will be celebrated as the 150^th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda who, in his historic message at the Parliament of Religions at Chicago way back in 1893, pointed out that “each (individual) must assimilate the spirit of the other and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to the own law of growth”.

The NFCH could tie up with the Ramakrishna Mission on this occasion for spreading the message of the great saint of peace, tolerance and understanding among the youth. Today when materialistic culture and lifestyles have been influenced by the West, there is need for greater dialogue on communitarian and harmonious living where the individual understands and lends a helping hand to his/her neighbour.

Though the proposed Bill has its merits, simultaneously generating social awareness would help take care of the other aspect of the problem i.e. countering communal politics through spread of secular values and education. If social movements are properly geared, right down from the grass-root level with youth at the forefront, it could help create a truly democratic and secular platform in the country. Time to take the first step.--INFA 

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)