Letter

Administrative, Legal Steps Needed to Check Communal Violence - Sonia Gandhi

Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha), sent the following communication to the Prime Minister on June, 27, 2003 regarding communal violence in the country.

Dear Prime Minister,

Communal violence is one of the greatest threats to the unity and integrity of our society and nation today. The existence of a political will to combat and subdue such violence is the primary requirement for communal harmony. Given the existence of such a political will, however, a conducive administrative and legal environment is also necessary. I have been discussing these matters with our Congress Chief Ministers for some time and did so again at our recent meeting at Srinagar.

There are certain administrative and legal initiatives that could go a long way in alleviating the threat of communal violence. While the Congress Chief Ministers have assured me that they will take these up to the extent possible, the active backing of the Centre will not only increase the effectiveness of some of these initiatives but also give them the stature of a national programme. Furthermore, there are certain legislative initiatives that can only be undertaken by the Centre.

In view of the generally adverse communal situation that has been prevailing for some time and in view of some particularly severe assaults on communal harmony in the recent past, we feel that the time is ripe for undertaking the following steps:-

* A national and state-level codification of measures to be taken to prevent communal riots as well as measures for the relief and rehabilitation of victims of communal riots - The relief and rehabilitation measures should include, particularly, the institution of a mechanism for disbursement of prompt and uniform compensation to riot victims and their families. They should also include guidelines for action against officials who fail to control communal riots within a reasonable period of time. I have already formally asked for such a codification during the Debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address this year.

* The mandatory setting up of Citizen’s Peace Committees in every district and police station with the active involvement of the district administrative and police machinery - There have been many sporadic efforts regarding this, but they have been neither universal nor sustained. The State and the administration should be made accountable for the year-round functioning of these committees and for the monitoring of their work. I have already asked all the Congress Chief Ministers to implement this in their states. Appropriate directives and guidelines from the Central Government in this regard would immensely help in mainstreaming this programme as one of the primary tasks of the States.

* Amending the existing legal and punitive provisions covering offences relating to communal violence - Specifically, we need to consider amendments in the Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code for (a) enhancing the period of imprisonment for those convicted of offences against communal harmony, (b) treating offences against communal harmony like any other cognizable offence and (c) setting up Special Courts for trying offences against communal harmony. The Special Courts could be empowered to award compensation to the victims and impose corresponding fine on the perpetrators of communal violence. The provisions of the National Security Act could be widened to allow preventive detention of a person if he is perceived to be a threat to communal harmony. The provisions of the Representation of the Peoples Act that debar persons convicted of offences against communal harmony from contesting elections should be strictly enforced. These are all areas in which only the Central Government can act.

You will agree that these administrative and legal suggestions are non-political in nature on which initiatives can be taken in the national interest on the basis of consensus between all the major political segments. I shall be grateful to be informed of the decisions taken by your Government on these suggestions.

With regards,

Yours sincerely
(Sonia Gandhi)