Necessity for Communal Violence prevention bill
Communal violence includes all forms of violent action by members of one community against the members of other community. These days the occurrence of communal violence is a regular feature. Communal violence, either major or minor, leaves a deep impact on the society.
India is a country of rich and varied cultural heritage and believes in the principle of Unity in Diversity. The concept has a wider meaning than the simple words. India to some extent has been successful in maintaining unity among different groups but this unity remains fragile and is being often broken.
The records of the past 8 year tells that there were around 1000 communal violence reported in the country that took the life of around 1000 people and displaced scores of them from their homes. The major states where the violence rate was high were Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala.
Communal or non-communal, violence itself is a threat to our country. When the religious thoughts are mixed with politics, it leads to aggression and violence. If we examine the pattern of riots carefully, we can clearly say it has occurred due to the petty politics of some extraneous forces within the communities' for political gains.
Consider the case of the communal violence in Muzaffarnagar that occurred recenly. The violence entered into its real deadly phase within a short span of time and caused the life of several innocent people.
The violence started with a mere fight between two Hindu Boys and a Muslim boy. This created the spark within communities which suddenly grew into a wild fire when one of the prominent political leaders posted a fake video on the internet. This outraged the feelings of the majority community leading to communal riots.
Even if we call it a communal riot, the real face of it is political in nature. It's the same story in all the communal riots that has occurred in the post-Independence era in various parts of the country.
The communal riots may last for few days but it's after effects is felt for a long time by the victims of such riots.
All this points to that there is no respite from communal violence in the near future. It is not receding but increasing. If such situation, what we should do to avoid such brutal riots occurring in the country in future?
There are several measures that should be adopted to ensure peaceful coexistence of all the communities. It must be ensured that the minority interests are also protected along with the interests of majority without any partiality. This can only be ensured by a well-structured and capable Police force in the country.
The other major step that must be taken is to bring a strong "Communal Violence Prevention Bill." Such bill is necessary to protect the interests of all the communities affected by communal violence. The bill must also deal with all the necessary steps to stop the communal riots immediately. There should be provisions such as rehabilitation and compensation for the affected persons. Those who instigated the communal violence must be brought to justice and this provision must be given the prime importance to check occurrence of such violence in future.
So the government must take steps to avoid another communal riot in the country. In order to do so there is urgent need to bring a strong Communal Violence Prevention Bill that would hold the communities together and ensure their peaceful coexistence.
Gokul Abraham
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