Dr Subramanian Swamy files complaint against Sonia Gandhi on
Communal Violence Bill
From:
Dr Subramanian Swamy , President of Janata Party, A-77, Nizamuddin
East, New Delhi.
To:
SHO/Insp: D.P. Singh, Sector 18, Rohini, Crime Branch, New Delhi.
Re: Registering of FIR u/s 153A & B, 295A & 505(2) of Indian Penal
Code.
Dated: October 24, 2011.
1. In public interest I am sending by Courier service a complaint in my
name against Chairperson Ms. Sonia Gandhi of National Advisory
Council, which has its office at 2 Motilal Place, New Delhi-110011, Tel:
23062582, and also against unnamed other members of the said NAC for
committing offences of propagating hate against the Hindu community of
India by circulating for enacting as law a Draft Bill described as
PREVENTION OF COMMUNAL AND TARGETED VIOLENCE BILL
OF 2011. This Draft Bill has been posted on the NAC official website, is
dated July 21, 2011 and sent for adoption by Parliament. That this 2011
Draft Bill is mischievous in content of targeting the Hindu community,
malafide, unreasonable and prejudicial to public order, is apparent from the
second section of Explanatory Note [Annexed herein] to the Draft Bill titled
“Key Provisions of the Bill”, thereby inciting crimes against the Hindu community with impunity, and thus committing offences u/s 153A & B,
295A and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code.
2. The UPA Government in December, 2005 had introduced earlier a
Draft Bill [2005] in the Parliament described as THE COMMUNAL
VIOLENCE (PREVENTION, CONTROL AND REHABILITATION OF
VICTIMS) BILL (2005).
3. The Draft Bill however did not find favour with any Party. Leaders
of several political parties felt that the Draft Bill provided sweeping powers
to the Central Government thus undermining the authority of the State
Governments. But the most vocal opposition to this draft Bill came from
the Muslim, Christian and so called secular quarters. Their contention was
just the opposite of what the political leaders were saying. The view of
Muslim and Christian groups was that the 2005 Draft Bill was “completely
toothless”. They demanded that the powers of managing communal
violence be vested in non-government actors and make governments and
administration at all levels accountable them for communal violence.
4. The All India Christian Council was in the forefront of this
campaign against the 2005 Draft Bill as being “too weak”. In a letter
written to the Prime Minister, Ms Sonia Gandhi, herself a Christian,
through the AICC had conveyed to the PM the Christian Council concerns
about the 2005 Draft Bill, and then revised the same as the 2009 Draft Bill.
5. The Muslim bodies too joined in the protest campaign against the
draft as being too weak. They wanted provisions to make police and civil
administration and state authorities “accountable” to public bodies. The
Joint Committee of Muslim Organizations for Empowerment (JCMOE)
made the demand on behalf of these organizations. JCMOE also urged the
government to convene a meeting of leaders of “targeted communities” to
note their views on the Bill as follows: “The Bill does not make police or administration or state authorities
accountable and provide for timely and effective intervention by the
National Human Rights Commission, if the communal violence spreads or
continues for weeks, or by the Central Government under Articles 355 and
356 of the Constitution, duly modified. On the other hand, ironically, the
Bill grants more power to the local police and administration, which, more
often than not acts in league with the rioters by declaring the area as
‘communally disturbed area’ JCMOE statement said.
6. It is interesting to note that these two statements, the Muslim and the
Christian, come at around the same time as though they were premeditated.
They probably were.
7. From their arguments in opposition to the Draft Bill, it is clear that
they wanted a Bill that would consider only the Christians and Muslims as
the “generally targeted” victims of communal violence; and that the word
‘communal violence’ be re-defined in such a way that only the Muslims and
Christians are treated as victims and Hindus as predators, and that the local
police and administration, including the State administration, considered
hand-in-glove with the perpetrators of violence. Hence the Bill should
empower the Central Government to invoke Art. 355 and 356 of the
Constitution against any state in the event of such communal violence.
8. Since the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill (2005) does not
discriminate between the perpetrators and victims of communal violence on
religious grounds and also it does not envisage the State administration as
committed in preventing such violence, these groups wanted the Bill to be
withdrawn.
9. The National Advisory Council (NAC) was re-constituted in 2009
by the UPA Government again under the chairmanship of Ms. Sonia
Gandhi. The UPA Government promptly handed over the re-drafting of the
Bill to the newly constituted NAC and asked it to come up with a fresh
draft. 10. The basic communally provocative premise of the re-drafted Bill is
that: a) there is a non-dominant group in every State in the form of religious
and linguistic minority which is always a victim of violence; b) the
dominant majority (usually Hindus) in the State is always the perpetrator of
violence; and c) the State administration is, as a rule, biased against the nondominant group.
11. The object of the re-drafted Bill thus was the basic premise of the
NAC that the majority community – read Hindus – are the perpetrators of
communal violence in India and the minority – read Muslims and Christians
– are the victims, clearly is incitement of religious strife.
12. What is more important is to conclude is that in all cases of
communal and targeted violence, dominant religious and linguistic group at
the State level is always the perpetrator and the other the victims. Similarly
the conclusion that the State machinery is invariably and always biased
against the non-dominant group is a gross misstatement of the sincerity and
commitment of millions of people who form State administration in the
country.
13. This dangerous premise is the incitement of communal strife in this
Bill.
14. One can safely conclude that the script writers of this Bill are
themselves blinded with religious biases. In India communal violence
happens mostly because of politico-communal reasons. In many instances,
as documented by several Commissions of Inquiry, it is the so-called
minority group that triggers the trouble. We hence need laws that can
prevent such violence irrespective of whoever perpetrates it. To argue that
since the administration is always biased in favour of the dominant group
we need acts that are biased in favour of the non-dominant group is
imprudent and puerile. 15. The final Draft is available on the NAC website now. One is not
sure when the same will be placed before the Parliament. However, a close
scrutiny of the Draft is essential to understand the serious implications of
and threats from it to our national integration, social harmony and
Constitutional Federalism.
16. This Bill when it becomes an Act will apply to whole
country except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Note that J&K is one of
the two States in India (excluding the North East and other tiny UTs) that
has Hindus as minority – the ‘non-dominant group’ according to this Bill.
Punjab is the other State where the Sikhs constitute the majority, while in
the rest of the entire country it is the Hindus who constitute ‘dominant
group’ and by implication the perpetrators of communal violence, according
to this Draft Bill.
17. The mischief in the drafting primarily lies in the ‘Definitions’ part
contained in Art.3 of the first chapter. Art. 3 (c ) defines Communal and
Targeted Violence as under:-
“Communal and targeted violence” means and includes any act or series of
acts, whether spontaneous or planned, resulting in injury or harm to the
person and or property knowingly directed against any person by virtue of
his or her membership of any group”.
18. The mischief is centered round the word ‘Group’. Art 3(e) defines
what constitutes a ‘Group’.
“Group” means a religious or linguistic minority, in any State in the Union
of India, or Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes within the meaning of
clauses of the Constitution of India;
19. Having thus established that the individual member of the Minority
community is always considered a part of the Minority group the Draft Bill goes on to add several detrimental clauses subsequently. Art.3 (f) defines
‘Hostile environment against a group’ thus:
“Hostile environment against a group” means an intimidating or coercive
environment that is created when a person belonging to any group as
defined under this Act, by virtue of his or her membership of that group, is
subjected to any of the following acts:
(i) boycott of the trade or business of such person or making it
otherwise difficult for him or her to earn a living; or
(ii) publicly humilitate such person through exclusion from public
services, including education, health and transportation of any act of
indignity; or
(iii) deprive or threaten to deprive such person of his or her
fundamental rights;
or,
(iv) force such person to leave his or her home or place of ordinary
residence or livlihood without his or her express consent; or
(v) any other act, whether or not it amounts to an offence under this
Act, that has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or
offensive environment.”
Note the Clause (v) – ‘Any other act, whether or not it amounts to an
offence under this Act’. The intention here seems to be to make anything
and everything an offence, even if it doesn’t come under any definition of
an offence. It is clear that the entire definition of ‘hostile environment’ is
malafide.
Clause (k) defines who is a ‘victim’. Here the draft makers are very explicit: “victim” means any person belonging to a group as defined under this Act,
who has suffered physical, mental, psychological or monetary harm or harm
to his or hr property as a result of the commission of any offence under this
Act, and includes his or her relatives, legal guardian and legal heirs,
wherever appropriate;
“Victim” can only be belonging to a ‘group’ as defined under this Act. And
the group as defined under this Act is the Minority – the ‘non-dominant
group’. That means this act will consider only the Minority as the victims.
And he or she will become a ‘victim if he or she has suffered physical,
mental, psychological or monetary harm….’ Now, physical harm is
measurable, mental harm is difficult to gauge, but how on earth can anyone
define ‘psychological harm’? The Bill does not define it. Then how can be
so-called ‘psychological harm’ be one of the reasons for victimhood?
Similarly, Art. 4 (a) states as follows:
4. Knowledge. – A person is said to knowingly direct any act against a
person belonging to a group by virtue of such person’s membership of that
group where;
(a) he or she means to engage in the conduct against a person he or she
knows belongs to that group;
20. Art 7 of the draft Bill defines ‘sexual assault’. It is by far the most
widely covered definition that is very much needed to protect women from
becoming targets of sexual violence as part of communal violence. But
against the problem is that this definition is applicable to the women
belonging to Minority group and women of the Majority community cannot
benefit from it. Secondly, it also states that in a case of communal violence
sex by consent also can be construed as a crime.
21. Patriotic Indians now realize that the present draft Bill is a standing
proof that neo Jinnah-ism – the belief that the minority is perpetually oppressed in India by the Hindu majority – is still poisoning our minds even
today by mischievous minds..
22. The present Draft Bill will only promote disharmony. With these
kind of laws the LeTs and Hujls across the border need not have to promote
terrorism in our territory anymore. All that they need to do is to encourage
a minor communal riot and they can achieve what they want – huge rift
between the Majority and Minority communities.
23. Hence, the NAC, with Ms Sonia Gandhi as Chairperson, and other
members have jointly committed offences under IPC Sections 153A & B,
295A, and 505
24. It is significant that even well known persons of secular credentials
have condemned this Bill as divisive. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. J.
Jayalalitha has in a Press Release dated July 29, 2011 [Annexed] has
concluded that “the remedy sought [in the Draft Bill] to be provided against
communal and targeted violence is worse than the disease itself”.
25. Therefore, this complaint be taken as a basis to register an FIR and
conduct investigation into the communal mentality of the NAC chairperson
Ms. Sonia Gandhi and other members and take necessary action under the
law to prosecute the offenders under the cited sections of the IPC.
( SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY )
Courtesy: Rediff.com
