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Steven Wilkinson, a US based Scholar
who has been studying communal violence in India has concluded
that since independence, the casualties in communal riots in India
is as huge as 40,000!! Though at present there does seem to be
relative peace, it is more of a short lull before another possible
storm of Communal Violence. I say so because there are riot
entrepreneurs, who organize, orchestrate and benefit from communal
violence – the anti-social elements who get legitimacy and a role
during riots on one hand and the politicians who consolidate their
vote banks on the other hand. Communal violence for the making and
the marking of collective and individual identity is increasing in
India. Various studies have also pointed out that the victims of
communal riots, particularly those from the minority community,
are pushed into further economic quagmire having lost their
properties and bread winners.
Vibhuti Narain Rai, former IPS officer who has served UP police
and in BSF and who effectively handled the ‘karsevaks’ who had
assembled in Aydhodhya in February 2002 has written after thorough
research that no communal riot in India can continue beyond 24
hours unless the administration at some level is complicit. Police
force in India is fully equipped and capable of brining under
control any riot within 24 hours. The major communal riots that
cause higher casualties are pre-planned for days if not months and
there are always early warnings of such a planning which the
police and intelligence can easily know if they care. West Bengal
had every reason why communal busy bodies and riot entrepreneurs
could have made the state a ground for frequent communal riots –
24% population being Muslim and the state having been partitioned
with Hindu refugees migrating from (the then) East Pakistan,
communal ideology and communal discourse having considerable
influence as evident from the 1946 riots in Calcutta. However,
once the Left Front Government came to power in West Bengal we did
not witness any major riots in that state. The Left Front
Government simply told the state police that riots will not be
tolerated and if they fail to control riots, they will have to
face the consequences. Similarly, Bihar had witnessed major riots
in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Bhagalpur. Laloo Prasad came to power on
promise that Bihar would be riot free during his tenure and he
delivered his promise. Just contrast this with the contention of
the IPS Officer in Gujarat Mr. Sanjiv Bhatt who alleged that the
Gujarat CM asked the top ranking police officers to go slow on the
mobs protesting the burning of S-6 compartment of Sabarmati
Express by unscrupulous elements in Godhra.
About 31 Inquiry Commissions were appointed after various communal
riots. These Inquiry Commissions have pointed out that riots take
place as administration is complicit and fail to perform their
duties on all three fronts – in taking preventive steps before
riots, controlling the mobs during the riots and finally bringing
the culprits to book. The early warnings and communal mobilization
through hate speeches are ignored as the culprits are powerful and
well connected politicians. Ignoring the Maha-artis in Mumbai
eventually helped the riot entrepreneurs during the 1993 riots in
Mumbai. Weak enforcement of curfew in majority areas and firing on
innocent people from minority community which is already victim of
violence from majority community are failures of the police during
the riots. After riots, relief is left to the community and
compensation is left to the whims of the politicians that preached
hatred in the first place. Most of the 31 Inquiry Commissions have
already recorded extensively the aforesaid failures due to
collusion between the riot entrepreneurs professing communal
ideology preaching hatred, spreading rumours to mobilize large
mass of unsuspecting and angry mob, collecting ammunitions and
equipments for riots, marking the houses and areas to be targeted
during riots and the some police officers on one hand and
political networks on the other hand. Those police officers who
are not in collusion with the riot entrepreneurs are slow to act
on the rioting mobs due to their own biases and prejudices against
the minorities and continuous flow of rumours or even target
minorities to vent their own frustrations, anger and with revenge
seeking / lesson teaching motive. And those who are not biased
against the minorities, upright and impartial, are neutralized and
rendered ineffective and helpless as they are marginalized within
the force or with threats of transfers by those providing
political patronage to the mob.
Any new legislation on the subject should therefore should aim at
curbing the network of riot entrepreneurs and those spreading
hatred through their publications, speeches etc., effectively
prevent the entrepreneurs from collecting equipments and
ammunitions for rioting and counter the rumours. That is precisely
the duty of the police force. To achieve these objectives, the
proposed legislation has to make the police and administrative
machinery charged with duty to secure and protect lives and uphold
law and order accountable for their omission and commissions.
The proposed draft of Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence
(Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011 (the Bill for
brevity) is a step in right direction that will address some of
these malaise. The officers will be held accountable now for their
commissions and omissions. They can be prosecuted if any officer
fails to act or omits to act without any adequate reason. Of
course in certain cases prior permission of the Government will
have to be obtained and there is a glitch there. The delinquent
and complicit officers can hope to be protected by the government
by denying permission to the complainant to prosecute them in any
court of law. However, the risks the officer may be taking by
his/her deliberate actions or omissions may be higher after the
Bill is made into a law than before. Not only the complicit
officer, but even his superior officer also can be punished for
the omission and commission of his subordinate, if it can be
proved that the superior had the information of the situation and
he too fails to issue appropriate orders and directions to his
subordinate. This principle is called command superior
responsibility. These provisions would ensure that the
administration would act even if they are not headed by Laloo
Prasad Yadav or by the Left Front Government.
The Bill will also give due rights to the victims to be heard
during the trial and make the procedure of trial more flexible and
victim friendly, including witness protection.
The Bill then provides for adequate standards to be maintained in
the relief camps and no one can be forced to return against their
will from the relief camps. In fact, relief, reparation,
restitution and compensation becomes the right of every victim of
communal and targeted violence. Compensation and reparations will
be in accordance with the losses and damages as assessed by the
State Assessment Committee. The victims will have to be
rehabilitated in their areas and safety and security of the
rehabilitated victims will have to be ensured by the state. Their
rehabilitation and resettlement of the victim’s family in the
existing locations or new locations by restoring them to levels
not less than those prevailing before such violence occurred. The
Bill also defines new offence of sexual assault which goes beyond
the narrow definition of rape. Rape requires penile penetration
whereas sexual assault also includes causing harm to reproductive
organs, unrobing a person or compelling a person to undress,
exposing one’s sexual organs in front of any person or subjecting
them to any sexual indignity, exhibiting private parts and
inserting sharp objects into their private parts. The Bill also
constitutes National Authority for Communal Harmony, Justice and
Reparation and State Authority of similar name and style whose
objective will be to prevent acts of communal and targeted
violence, control spread of organized communal and targeted
violence, monitor due investigation, prosecution and trial of
offences and monitor relief, reparation and restitution in a fair
and impartial manner.
The BJP is attacking the Bill precisely for the reason that it
holds officers responsible for their acts and omissions and
negligent behavior or willful failure in controlling riots. The
Officers would not listen to their political bosses, else they
could face prosecution if they are complicit. Organising,
instigating and abetting communal violence will not be easy. The
pretext these leaders are using is that the Bill does not propose
to address communal and targeted violence perpetrated by the
minority against the majority community. However, whenever that
happens, the state has not been found wanting in taking
appropriate action against those responsible. Special legislations
are to meet special situations. The relief reparation and
restitution of the victims, irrespective of their religious
following itself would deter future communal and targeted
violence. However, there are many other flaws in the Bill which we
cannot deal with here due to lack of space. The major flaw being
that the Bill does not have any remedy to tackle low intensity
violence against the minorities in the form or discrimination and
social and economic boycott. Perhaps another legislation would be
required for that purpose.
The writer is Director
of the Institute for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution,
Mumbai.
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