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Journalism of Courage
The Communal Violence Bill,in limbo in Parliament since 2005,has got a fresh lease of life. The Centres Action Taken Report on the Liberhan Commissions recommendations had mentioned the Communal Violence Bill. A changed version of the 2005 draft has now been cleared by the Union cabinet,and is likely to be tabled in the current session of Parliament. The big question is,will the legislation change anything?
Law and order being a state subject,the responsibility to prevent and deal with communal disturbances lies with the state government,unless the Centre imposes Presidents Rule,as it did after (but,controversially,not before) the destruction of the Babri Masjid on December 6,1992. Apart from providing for tougher punishment and rehabilitation,the key feature of the 2005 draft of the Communal Violence Bill was that it increased the powers of the Centre to respond to communal violence. The new version of the bill empowers the Centre even more. The Centre can declare a particular area in a state as communally disturbed,without the consent of the state government,and even if there is no loss of life. And the unified command created under the legislation will be controlled directly by the Centre. The benefit of this is that it would allow the Centre to respond with greater haste to communal violence where the state perhaps would not (say in Faizabad district in the December of 1992),without having to take over the entire state administration. Therefore,the bill provides the Centre with a sharp tool,not the blunt one that Presidents Rule might be seen to be.
