Communal Violence Bill not a vote-catching gimmick: PM Manmohan Singh

NEW DELHI: Faced with stiff opposition from BJP and some non-Congress parties over the Communal Violence Bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rejected the charge that it was a "vote-catching gimmick" and said it was time to control "aberrations" like the Muzaffarnagar riots.

"It is not a vote-catching gimmick.....What happened in Muzaffarnagar and some other parts of our country is a reminder that although as a country, we can take pride in our ability to protect all the people of our country, yet there are times when aberrations take place.

"This bill, if it is passed by Parliament, will help to control those aberrations," the Prime Minister said replying to a question at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Singh noted that in the last five or six years, the country has been been grappling with the problem of communal riots in some parts of the country.

"And our effort has been to create an environment where officers would have the responsibility to look after the law and order situation as effectively as is humanly possible.

"Plus also if riots cannot be prevented, there should be adequate compensation for the victims of the riots. These are two basic principles, which underlines what is the purpose of the Communal Violence Bill. I think it is a bill, whose time has come," the Prime Minister said.

His remarks came amid Centre's move to drop several provisions to ensure that the legislation is neutral between communities.

The Centre's move came amid protests from the BJP and other parties like AIADMK to certain provisions of the bill.

Singh had yesterday said that government will try to evolve a broad-based consensus on issues which are of "great" legislative importance. BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had yesterday dubbed the bill as a "recipe for disaster".

Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had said the government will bring the 'Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2013 in the Winter Session of Parliament.
Government sources said the fresh initiative to amend the provisions of the draft Bill has been taken in the wake of criticism by BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

The draft bill is now made neutral between all groups or communities and the Central government will not have any perceived overriding powers anywhere.

The earlier version of bill specifically mentioned that the onus of riots lay on the majority community.

The fresh draft says, "If the state government is of the opinion that assistance of the Central government is required for controlling communal violence, it may seek the assistance of the Central government to deploy armed forces of the Union for such purposes..."

Earlier, the Centre was given unilateral powers to send central paramilitary forces during the outbreak of communal violence without consulting the state government.

BJP has maintained it will oppose the legislation when it comes up for discussion in Parliament on the ground that it would be a "threat to India's communal harmony."

"Communal Violence Bill is ill-conceived, poorly drafted and a recipe for disaster," Modi had said in his letter to Singh.

"The timing to bring the bill is suspicious owing to political considerations and vote bank politics, rather than genuine concerns".