By TCN News,
New Delhi: Leaders of Muslim religious and social organizations have demanded the Central Government to revise the Draft Communal Violence Bill, 2009 to incorporate provisions to make police and civil administration and state authorities accountable. The Joint Committee of Muslim Organisations for Empowerment (JCMOE) has 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.
“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. JCMOE Convenor Syed Shahabuddin issued the joint statement signed by all prominent Muslim leaders.
“The undersigned who represent Muslim organizations and institutions of national eminence, assembled in Delhi on 1 March, 2010, have considered in depth the draft Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2009, in the light of the original Bill of 2005, the proceedings of the National Seminar organized by the National Commission for Minorities and the subsequent meeting of the National Integration Council and innumerable statements issued by the civil society, in general and the Muslim community, in particular, as well as the 59 amendments which are said to have been incorporated in the new draft by the Government.”
“The Bill of 2009 is no better than the original bill and the amendments have only given a superficial cosmetic touch to the original Bill without changing its basic concept or structure or objective and that the Bill of 2009 does not serve the basic purpose i.e., anticipation, prevention and control of communal violence, effectively and promptly, provision of adequate relief and rehabilitation measures to the survivors and due compensation to the next-of-kin for the loss of life, honour and property and identification of and punishment to the culprits, as well as those in the law and order machinery which acted as spectators and colluded with the rioters.”
The JCMOE urged the Government to first define ‘communal violence’ in a comprehensive manner which includes sex-based crimes and religiously targeted murder, destruction and looting and thus it need to be differentiated from the ordinary crimes under the IPC. The undersigned feel that the Bill should in fact propose special penalties, apart from the penalties available under the IPC, including disqualification for public life, expulsion from professional bodies and forfeiture of property.
“The undersigned call upon the Government to provide for prompt registration of communal crimes, their urgent investigation by special agencies and prosecution of identified culprits, including policemen, administrators and politicians, in Special Courts with Special Prosecutors, who are acceptable to the victims and in such cases the provision of prior sanction of the government should not apply to such culprits. The undersigned also demand a uniform scale of compensation for the whole country, irrespective of religion of the victims or the culprits or the venue of communal violence, for loss of life, honour and property and as well as destruction of and damage to religious places with the provision to revise the scale every 10 years and assessment of losses and damage by a Special Commissioner from outside the state occurrence.”
“The undersigned, for the reasons mentioned above do not find the Bill of 2009 acceptable and request the Government not to introduce it in a hurry without consulting the representatives and leaders of the civil society, particularly the communities which are generally targetted and to revise the Bill in the light of their suggestions and observations.”
The Muslim leaders have requested “all secular forces, the civil society and the political parties represented in the Parliament to press the Government to revise the Bill before introduction in order to remove the inadequacies, defects and flaws which have been pointed out and objected to by the targeted communities, in order to assure them of absolute Equality before Law and guarantee their Security and Dignity.”
The signatories to the statement are:-
Mr. Saiyid Hamid, Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi
Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, Amir, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, New Delhi
Maulana Arshad Madani, President, Jamiat Ulama-e- Hind, New Delhi
Dr. Md. Manzoor Alam, General Secretary, All India Milli Council, New Delhi5
Mr. Syed Shahabuddin, President, All India Muslim Majlis-e- Mushawarat, New Delhi
Maulana Asghar Ali Imam Mehdi Salfi, Secretary General, Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadis, Delhi
Mr. Zafar Saifullah, IAS (Retd.) former Cabinet Secretary, Govt. of India
Dr. Syed Tahir Mahmood, former Member of Law Commission of India, New Delhi
Mr. E. M. Abdur Rahiman, Chairman, Popular Front of India, Bangalore
Mr. Asaduddin Owaisi, MP
Dr. Shafiqur Rahman Burq, MP
Dr. Ejaz Ali, MP
Mr. Sabir Ali, MP
Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, Editor. Milli Gazette, New Delhi
Mr. P.A. Inamdar, President Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education Society, Pune
Mr. K.M. Arifuddin, Secretary, Madina Education and Welfare Society, Hyderabad
Dr. Mufti Mukarram Ahmad, Shahi Imam, Masjid Fatehpuri, Delhi
Maulana Mohd. Jafar, Naib Amir, JIH
Mr. Abdul Khaliq, GS, LJP, New Delhi
Mr. Shahid Siddiqui, ex-MP, President, Hindustani Awami Morcha, Editor, Nai Duniya, New Delhi
Kunwar Danish Ali, General Secretary, Janata Dal (Secular)
Prof. Humayun Murad, President, Markazi Momin Conference, Aligarh
Dr. M.H. Jawahirullah, President, TMMK‘
Syed Shariful Hasan Naqvi, General Secretary, All India Shia Conference
Mr. Suhail K.K., President, Student Islamic Organisation
Hakim Mohd. Irfan Al Husaini, Vice President, All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat
Prof. Alauddin Ahmed, former Vice Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard
Maulana Ejaz Ahmed Aslam, Editor, Radiance Weekly
Mr. Parwaz Rahmani, Chief Editor, Dawat Urdu Seh Roza, New Delhi
Mr. Tariq Anwar, MP, President, All India Qaumi Tanzeem
Mr. Shabbir Ali Ansari, President, Federation of Muslim Backward Classes Associations