Author: Ashish kaushik, IV year of B.A.,LL.B from Faculty of Law, Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak.
“Be it caste or communal violence, they stall the growth of the nation. Let us affirm that we will be free from these tensions.” – Narendra Modi
India has faced a large number of violence since independence. Thousands of innocent people became scapegoats in these riots. Violence which enfolds the color of religion becomes Communal violence. Generally, two groups that follow different religions or ideologies are the participants of this. These groups are not lead by any particular leader. The main reason of these violence is the feeling of hate and revenge against another group. India is sovereign, socialist and secular country by its constitution but the spate of riots affects its essence. People in majority always want to suppress the minority group. This thinking affects the development of country.
Violence which India never forget
India witnessed a large number of worst riots in 1947 at the time of independence. Thereafter Ahmadabad riots 1969 came in picture because of dispute between famous leaders Morarji Desai and Indira Gandhi. Dispute was related to leadership. Around 1000 people had died at that time. After this Sikh riots was happened in 1984 after the killing of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The communal violence did not stop here after this Mumbai riots in 1992 were happened. Demolition of the Babri masjid by kar sevaks came in news. The financial capital of India flares up. In December 1992 and then again in January, the city witnessed a lot of unaccustomed violence. Thousands of people were killed & property worth crores of rupees was destroyed and looted
Then Gujarat riots 2002 also known as Godhra Train burning case, Hindu pilgrims when they were returning from ayodha succumb to death due to burning of train by Muslim mob. The fire killed around 58 Hindu passengers. After this incidence Muslims were targeted by Hindu community. Riots between Hindu Muslim are not common in our country. Gujarat violence shows new depth of extreme brutality and horror.
Many lives were lost due to this violence in Gujarat. The SIT gave clean chit to 64 people including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time of Godhra Train incidence. SIT report is challenged in Hon’ble Supreme Court and hearings are going on this matter.
Delhi Riots in February 2020, Indian Parliament passed an Act named as Citizenship Amendment Act. People belonging to Muslim community were doing protest against this act at shaheen bagh and Jafrabad. This protest turned into communal riots and spread across northeast part of Delhi. At that time, around 60 people lost their lives, many people were injured, houses and shops destroyed or burnt. 1,826 people including 956 from the Muslim community and 870 from the Hindu community were arrested by Delhi police.
Why communal violence is in news?
Nowadays Tripura violence 2021 is on trending everywhere. It is interlinked with anti-Hindu violence which was happened in Bangladesh during Durga Pooja. Vishwa Hindu Prishad held a protest against this violence in Tripura, allegedly attacked on Mosques and also targeted Muslims. Protest was also held in Assam but state police was on high alert after Tripura communal violence. 102 social media accounts were booked under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for promoting rumors and disharmony in society. Two Supreme Court lawyers and one journalist hooked up by Tripura police in this case. Hon’ble Supreme Court accepts the plea filled by Sr. Adv Prashant Bhushan on the behalf of them, restraint the police from arresting them and hearings are still going on.
Reasons of communal violence
Vote bank politics and feeling of hate & revenge is root of mostly communal violence. Politicians for the sake of votes use religion card and breaks up the vote bank of other party. Parties in India use divide and rule policy. Ruling party BJP in India always play card on Hindus whereas AIMIM on Muslims some parties are based on caste politics. Many a times religious leaders also provoke one community against another. It is also noted that media persons shows the matter without any credible and full report for the sake of TRP. So irresponsible reporting of media could be dangerous for country. Funding from foreign state and from any terrorist group is another reason of this. Innocent people come in the trap of anti social elements and they suffer mostly. Personal quarrels, cow slaughter, dispute over place of worship are trivial problems.
Steps should be taken by Government
India needs a particular law on this. There was a bill “The Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilation of Victims Bill) drafted and introduce by Indian parliament in 2005 but same was rejected due to some loopholes in that. The Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violation Bill 2011 was also not passed. Communal violence is not only a matter of law and order but legislators must keep in mind the fraternity and unity of country. Government needs not to target people on their religion bases. Beside this, proper trained police force with requisite equipment is needed for handling the situation. Lack of strong action encourages the perpetrators. Public speech by politicians and other leaders must be closely watched by law enforcement agencies because aggressive speech can provoke the crowd. The role of cyber cell police is also crucial to curb these violences. Fake news and rumors spread quickly so police can keep an eye on social media and websites which contains violent content with the aim of spreading communal problem.
Conclusion
In a nutshell we can say that India needs to emerge from this rampant. Violence only violet Human rights and cause economic loss to the county. Past incidences had shown the negligence of state governments in handling the situation. So there is need of better implementation of law. Rather to participate in violences, people should contribute towards the process of nation building. This is the only way to achieve the Secular feature of the constitution.
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