Activists' plea to PM, Sonia: Communal Violence Bill "for all"

Seeking a "for-all-and-not-for- minorities-only" Communal Violence Bill, a group of activists today petitioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi urging them to incorporate their demands into the proposed legislation.
The petitioners, comprising both civil society and human rights activists, also concurred that had the Bill incorporating the suggested features been already passed, a situation like the one which recently unfolded in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar "would not have gone out of control".
They have made an 11-point demand in their petition vis-a-vis the Bill.
"A Hindu Dalit could be a victim (of a riot) or any linguistic minority.

"Therefore, we are saying that our 11-point demands are totally non-negotiable," said Shabnam Hashmi of Anhad.
"We have sent copies of the petition to the PM, the UPA Chairperson, the Home Minister and the Law Minister stating that a communal violence legislation aimed at only the minority community was not in the interests of the country," she added.

The activists accused UPA government of stalling the Bill with lawyer and rights activist, Vrinda Grover saying that "the government has not kept its word despite including it (the Bill) in their Common Minimum Programme under UPA-1".
"Our suggestions include making the bureaucracy, police and the political executive criminally liable for acts of omission and commission in relation to their duties," she said.

The petitioners also sought robust provisions for witness and victim protection at all levels and proper reparation and compensation framework.
Former Samajwadi Party Secretary Kamal Faruqi and ex-Rajya Sabha MP and Islamic scholar Mehmood Madani are also part of the group along with close to a 100 others, including prominent figures like filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who have endorsed the petition "either through email or SMS".
"We will protest if our words are not heard and will even take further democratic steps if needed. We might even gherao Parliament if our voices are not heard by the government," the activists said.

Last month's communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas claimed 62 lives and displaced over 40,000 people.