By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal: The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has hailed the reported move to amend the Communal Violence Bill, (CVB), following the recommendation of National Advisory Council, (NAC), headed by the Congress president Mrs. Sonia Gandhi.
SDPI national general secretary A. Sayeed in a Press statement said the move is a welcome step in the right direction as there were many apprehensions among people, especially in the minds of Muslims, about the proposed bill and its ramifications.
Sayeed said it is good to see that better counsel has prevailed over the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, (UPA), Government at the Centre and it has felt the need not to press the CVB in the present form but to go for amendments in it to allay the fears of the minorities and others. In the present form the CVB would have strengthened the hands of the police and the administration to unleash unbridled terror on Muslims. It has been observed that in most of the communal riots after initial skirmishes between warring communities the police and the district administration is aligned against Muslims to beat them black and blue, he pointed out.
He urged Mrs. Gandhi to personally supervise the redrafting of the Bill so that no lacuna is left in it for the law enforcing agencies to exploit it and harass the minorities.
It is good to note that the NAC has also advised the government to constitute a national authority to check communal and sectarian violence in the country, he noted.
It may be mentioned here that the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2005 and is waiting to be passed in the Lok Sabha. It has many objectionable provisions while giving unnecessary powers to the police.