Jayalalithaa objects to bill against communal violence

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Monday voiced her strong opposition to the Prevention of Communal (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2013, saying it trampled on the authority of the states.

She also asked the central government not to introduce the bill during the winter session of parliament.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the text of which was released to the media here, she said: "I would like to strongly reiterate, on behalf of the government of Tamil Nadu, that I am completely opposed to this bill which seeks to trample upon the authority of the states."

"With barely five months to go for the term of the present Lok Sabha to end and for general elections to be announced, any hasty attempt to bring in such legislation without wide consultation among all political parties and stakeholders would be a completely undemocratic move," she said.

Jayalalithaa urged Manmohan Singh not to move the proposed Prevention of Communal (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2013 in the winter session of parliament, which begins in New Delhi Dec 5.

According to her, the bill, as drafted, suffers "from too many lacunae and will not meet the intended objective of preventing communal violence."

"It would, therefore, be extremely unwise to pose the bill as a one size fits all solution to a complex problem that requires sensitive cooperation between the centre and states. In fact, the remedy proposed would end up being worse than the disease itself," Jayalalithaa remarked.

Stressing that law and order is the fundamental responsibility of state governments, Jayalalithaa said there should be functional cooperation and understanding between the centre and the states.

According to her, the present bill contains cosmetic modifications to the earlier bill of 2011. The revised draft bill contains many of the serious issues that were there in the earlier version.