ASIA/INDIA - Civil Society: " We need a good law against religious violence"

New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - We urgently need a good law against religious and inter-communal violence in India, which ensures equality, the right to life, freedom to live with dignity and the right to justice to all citizens: is what The National Consultation of the Indian civil society states, raising the fundamental characteristics of a bill on the subject. As reported to Fides, the Consultation intervened after the bill introduced last year, the so-called "Communal Violence Bill," "was subject to much criticism and was frozen by the Parliament." Hundreds of organizations, including many Christian and Catholic, as the All India Christian Council are part of the Consultation.
After a meeting held in past days, the Consultation, in a document sent to Fides, recalls "The 1983 Nellie massacre, the Sikh carnage of 1984, the Hashimpura killings in 1987, the 2002 pogrom in Gujarat, attacks on Christians in Orissa in 2007 and 2008 ". "These and many other instances of recorded violence-the text says - bring to the fore the recurring themes of state complicity and impunity," noting "severe inadequacies in the recognition of crime and law, to ensure that people are protected and that justice is done. "
That affected communities and civil society groups have launched a campaign for a new legal instrument, which resulted in the elaboration of the draft on the "Communal Violence Bill," which arrived in Parliament last year but blocked by the Assembly.
Recognizing the urgent need for a law against inter-communal violence and targeted on minorities, the National Consultation reiterates the government's request to draft a law that, according to the principle characteristics, should have these features: protect all people from communal and targeted crime; making public authorities criminally responsible; introduce elements of responsibility in the chain of command; delete the shield of immunity for Public servants; recognize special offenses for violence against women and children; provide special investigative tools for such violence; provide a solid program for the protection of witnesses; the responsibility of the state to recognize the phenomenon of "internal displacement"; provide adequate compensation to victims and survivors. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 26/4/2012)