Communal Violence Bill not a vote-catching gimmick: Manmohan Singh

“This bill,if it is passed by Parliament,will help to control those aberrations,” the Prime Minister said replying to a question at a conclave organised by a daily.

Singh noted that in the last five or six years,the country has been been grappling with the problem of communal riots in some parts of the country. “And our effort has been to create an environment where officers would have the responsibility to look after the law and order situation as effectively as is humanly possible.

“Plus also if riots cannot be prevented,there should be adequate compensation for the victims of the riots. These are two basic principles,which underlines what is the purpose of the Communal Violence Bill. I think it is a bill,whose time has come,” the Prime Minister said.

His remarks came amid Centre’s move to drop several provisions to ensure that the legislation is neutral between communities.

The Centre’s move came amid protests from the BJP and other parties like AIADMK to certain provisions of the bill. Singh had yesterday said that government will try to evolve a broad-based consensus on issues which are of “great” legislative importance. BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday dubbed the bill as a “recipe for disaster”.

Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had said the government will bring the ‘Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill,2013 in the Winter Session of Parliament.

Government sources said the fresh initiative to amend the provisions of the draft Bill has been taken in the wake of criticism by BJP,West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The draft bill is now made neutral between all groups or communities and the Central government will not have any perceived overriding powers anywhere.

The earlier version of bill specifically mentioned that the onus of riots lay on the majority community. The fresh draft says,”If the state government is of the opinion that assistance of the Central government is required for controlling communal violence,it may seek the assistance of the Central government to deploy armed forces of the Union for such purposes…”

Earlier,the Centre was given unilateral powers to send central paramilitary forces during the outbreak of communal violence without consulting the state government.

BJP has maintained it will oppose the legislation when it comes up for discussion in Parliament on the ground that it would be a “threat to India’s communal harmony.”

“Communal Violence Bill is ill-conceived,poorly drafted and a recipe for disaster,” Modi had said in his letter to Singh. “The timing to bring the bill is suspicious owing to political considerations and vote bank politics,rather than genuine concerns”.

Meanwhile,talking to reporters outside Parliament House,BJP vice president Mukhtak Abbas Naqvi termed the government’s attempt to have a debate on the Communal Violence Bill as a “gimmick” and said several states have already expressed reservations over it.

“Today there are several questions that are unanswered. You (government) are not willing to have a debate on the Women’s Reservation bill or the Lokpal Bill or electoral reforms,judicial reforms or police reforms. It is a short session and before it began you have indulged in a gimmick which you know will never be accepted in Parliament,” he said.

Naqvi pointed out that when the Prime Minister had convened a meeting of Chief Ministers in May,around eleven states opposed this Bill and alleged that it is actually a “communal vote bill.”

“You indulge in a gimmick. Now,you are saying you will dilute it,then you’ll say we are putting it in cold storage because the Opposition does not allow it. Now if there was no unanimity in the meeting of the chief ministers,you should have first worked on consensus there,” he said.

The BJP leader said that nearly three dozen laws already exist to prevent communal violence,but “it is not policies but intention that is needed to stop it.”

In reply to a query regarding action being taken by the Haryana Government against IAS officer Ashok Khemka,Naqvi said after the whistle-blower bill had been brought to the Parliament,Khemka has been the biggest casualty.

“He (Khemka) had raised questions about the top family of the Congress and the result has been that he had been facing the heat,” the BJP vice president said.

On news reports related to the existence of a diary which contains certain details of alleged payments related to coal blocks allocation,Naqvi said if it is true,the matter should be investigated and the truth exposed.