Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Nov 21: City-based High Court advocate, P P Hegde, has termed Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill 2011, proposed to be tabled in the winter session of the parliament, as dreadful. To prove his point of view, he has quoted excerpts from the bill and analyzed their negative affects to nail home this view, and wondered as to whether it will be in order on the part of patriotic people to allow such a bill to become law. “This bill will be particularly dreadful for Hindus, and more destructive than nuclear arms for the country as whole,” he has declared.

Strangely, Hegde states, the bill aims at according protection to minorities against criminal acts, duly pointing out that the act acts as a shield for Christians and Muslims, who are considered minorities, and not Hindus, who form majority. He also wonderered about the condition that the provisions of the act are not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir, where Hindus form the minority. “As per section 3 © of the proposed bill, communal violence means assault, threat or criminal acts on minorities, as per 3 (j), affected person is a member of minority community suffering mental, financial, or physical pain/violence, his family, and relatives, as per 3 (k), witness is a person who is an eyewitness to violence against minority persons, and those who adduce evidence on behalf of persons belonging to minorities/produce documents,” Hegde has analyzed.

Hegde argues that in affect, the proposed law wants to declare that atrocities or violence on Hindus like murder, rape, driving away from home, and creating situation in which a Hindu is forced to desert his home and flee from the village, will not tantamount to communal violence. “Such an ill-fated Hindu will not be considered an ‘affected person’, nor will he be able to claim relief. A person who is prepared to adduce evidence on behalf of a Hindu will not be treated as ‘witness’ as per this bill. No court or policemen will be able to act against members of minority communities on the basis of the statements made by such a witness,” he has pointed out.

Hegde notes that under the act, even assaults or threats posed to people from minority communities relating to civil disputes like finance, have to treated as communal violence, and the perpetrator has to be put behind bars. Henceforth, Hindus will always be considered as those who have ignited communal violence, and the minorities will be for ever treated as innocents and victims of communal violence, if the bill is passed, Hegde avers.  He has also objected to section 3(f) which states creation of adverse climate for the minority communities through public insult, deprivation of public services and others will be considered as a crime under section 8 dealing with spreading of hatred etc which attract three years imprisonment. Section 9 deals with organized communal violence under which, more than one such incident will be considered as an organized communal violence. Utterance of one word or doing one thing which has the potential of creating hatred against minorities in the opinion of the concerned will be treated as crime under the act.  He also says the ‘sexual assault’ under section 7 which attract life term, and several other portions of the act, are claimed to be stacked heavily against Hindus.
Hegde says that a person who mentions the popular phrase, ‘Love Jihad’, L K Advani’s statement that terrorists identified so far from the country have been Muslims, people demanding punishment to Afzal Guru, Ajmal Kasab etc can be punished. If the policemen refuse to register FIR, case under section 120 can be registered against the official, who runs the risk of being jailed for five years.  “Demanding ban on cow slaughter, worship to cows in the public, and such other things can be treated as offending by Muslims. Cases can be booked against sound of bells from temples, Bhajans, custom of worshipping multiple gods, women not wearing Burkhas etc, as they may hurt the religious beliefs of the Muslims,” he explains.

Under section 127 of the bill, if one of the members of an organization commits a crime, all the office bearers of the organization will be held responsible and therefore, run the risk of being punished on equal terms with the criminal. This is a ploy to send activists of certain organizations to jail, Hegde argues. He also pinpoints to the provision in the bill which has made all the offences non-bailable, and the provision to attach the property of the accused, auctioning the same, and distributing the proceeds thereof among the minorities. The bill also provides for remanding an accused to 30 days police custody, banning their entry into specific districts etc. A person belonging to minority community who claims to be the victim of communal violence, can hire an advocate at government’s cost. The courts are compelled to accept the objections and statements made by them, and the expenses relating to  all the witnesses have to be borne by the government under sections 86 and 87, the advocate says.

Hegde also objects to the provision that public prosecutors in special courts under the bill should be from minority communities with history of protecting interests of minorities. Contrarry to the notion in vogue that the accused are innocents in the eye of law unless charges against them are proved, the act treats every accused as a criminal. He has compared to the bill to the imposition of ‘Jijyah’, a kind of tax levied on Hindu pilgrims during the rule of emperor Aurangazeb. He also notes that the government officials also face stringent actions for various commissions of omissions, some of which may be out of their hands. For example, Hegde notes, that a person from minority community can ask a police station to register a false complaint against a particular person, and the sub-inspector will face action if he refuses to do so. He analyzes that no prior permission is henceforth necessary for filing complaints against policemen or other government employees as before, and a mere complaint of physical violence to get confession etc can send policemen behind bars for life. The bill also protects the accused against human rights activists. The policemen and army of the country will have to work under the ‘Communal Harmony Authority’ to be set up at the state and central levels with seven members each, of which four including chairman and deputy chairman should be from minority communities, the advocate says.

Hegde feels that the provision that the affected minority community members should be paid relief that is more than what is normally given by insurance companies under Motor Vehicles Act for accidents, within 30 days from out of the ‘Communal Violence Relief Fund’, encourages hoisting of false cases against Hindus. Hegde compares the act to section 295 of Criminal Code of Conduct prevalent in Pakistan, under which Hindus, even when they are beaten up, driven out of homes, raped, or religiously converted, are not treated as affected persons. He points out that a committee comprising of persons like Teesta Setalwad who has been fighting in favour of terrorists and naxals, Syed Shahabuddin, Farhan Akhvi, Asgar Ali Engineer and John Dayal, some of whom have been demanding the release of Afzal Guru, have prepared this bill. Hege also says that the Congress government had withdrawn TADA and POTA which were in force to control terrorism, for appeasing the minorities in the past. He says that the bill in its present form, is more draconian than the Shariat in force in Pakistan, and argues that it is the duty of every patriot to oppose this bill.