Offstumped – Commentary on Indian Politics

At the outset let it be said that the basic premise behind a new Central Law on Communal Violence is deeply flawed and anti-federal.

Nevertheless the draft of the bill made public by the National Advisory Council must be analyzed threadbare to expose and highlight how runaway Left Liberalism in New Delhi’s intellectual circles under the active political patronage of the Congress Party is subverting the original intent of the Constitution.

Draft Bill PDF http://nac.nic.in/pdf/pctvb_amended.pdf—
Offstumped (@offstumped) May 20, 2011

Send feedback to NAC by 4 JUNE 2011 to wgcvb@nac.nic.in—
Offstumped (@offstumped) May 20, 2011

The new title of the bill exposes how cleverly the Left Libs have expanded the scope of the bill to now include what they call  ”Targeted Violence”. The inclusion of reparations in the title is also indicative of the mindset at work behind this bill.

The draft is 67 pages long and begins with definitions which need to be closely looked at. Especially definitions like:

#1 Association

#2 Communal and Targeted Violence

which are so broad and vague that they are easily liable to all kinds of interpretations. As an example within the definition of “Communal and Targeted Violence” is the phrase “destroys the secular fabric of the nation”.

It is anybody’s guess what exactly  ”destroying the secular fabric”  means. What test will be applied and by who ?

This is classic Left Liberalism  where subjective value judgement takes precedence over objective and factual determination. The Left Liberal feels no obligation to set an objective measure for objectivity would mean providing us with an instrument to hold the Left Liberal to account.

The broad definitions of the term “Victim” and “Intimidation” further highlight this with references to acts which need not be crimes and suffering which can be psychological.

The most insidious and subversive aspect of the Bill is the definition of “Knowledge” which seeks to bring via the backdoor elements of the Rome Statute (International Criminal Court), notwithstanding the fact that India is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.

This is not the first time the Left Liberals have attempted this. A trial balloon floated in the past to pin down Narendra Modi by invoking a non-existent Command Doctrine failed when it was pointed out that there was no Indian Law on the same . The Communal Violence Bill by trying to invoke the Doctrine of Command Responsibility essentially makes India party to provisions of the Rome Statute despite not being a signatory to it.

It is also ironic that the Left Liberals have adopted definitions from the much maligned Maharashtra Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) despite having opposed similar legislations pending from other non-Congress states.

The definitions of “Dereliction of Duty” are broad as well leaving ample scope for holding Public Servants criminally liable for acts of omission.

The Bill’s anti-federal character becomes clear on page 10 when it seeks to confer on the Central Government the power to intervene.

Yet another tax payer funded National Conscience Keeper is envisaged in the creation of the proposed “National Authority for Communal Harmony, Justice and Reparation”. Much of the rest of the draft bill goes into the bureaucratic aspects of the so called “National Authority”. The draconian and anti-federal character of the “National Authority” becomes clear on Page 16 under the “Powers of the National Authority”. Specific anti-federal powers include:

#1 – Binding directives to agencies of the State

#2 – Judicial Powers of a Civil Court in running inquiries and investigations

#3 – Power to search any building

#4- Power to refer cases for trial to the Judiciary under the Criminal code

#5 – Treating proceedings conducted by it as Judicial Proceedings

#6 – Wide investigative powers through any existing agency

# 7 – Role on inquiring into the conduct of Armed Forces

#8 – Democratically elected governments will be required  by law to explain within 7 days why the National Authority directives were not complied with

#9 – the setting up of a parallel structure within the states called the “State Authority”

The most hilarious aspect of the Bill is the permanent interventionist role it envisages for Left Liberal Jhollawallahs and NGOs under the guise of what it calls “Defenders for Justice and Reparations” where in the state authority can appoint any random individual and empower him or her with an interventionist role.

This Bill is  irony unbounded for every provision that was deemed draconian in Anti-Terror laws of the past include lawful interception of communications, has found a comeback in the name of “Prevention of Communal Violence”.

It speaks to how flexible a values  Left Liberals hold when it comes to interventions against the legitimate functioning of the State that they the Left Liberals will not think twice about empowering themselves with those same instruments when it suits them.

More absurd provisions follow on Page 33, like the demand for proportional representation of religious and linguistic minorities in Special Public Prosecutor Panels.

A patently anti-federal provision is the power to move Cases to Judges and Courts outside a state on the mere apprehension of impartiality.

In what is an echo of the movie Minority Report is the provision on page 35 that seeks to empower Court to pre-emptively act on the apprehension that a Public Servant is likely to commit a crime. Once again we see the hypocrisy of the Left Liberal who abhors any pre-emptive action against likely acts of Terror but is absolutely comfortable with pre-emptive actions against Public Servants on the mere apprehension of communal violence.

Victims Entitlement

The provision on free legal aid to victims must also take the cake for this ill conceived piece of legislation. So essentially Tax Payers of India shall foot the legal bill for victims, and given the broad definition of the word victim it is anybody’s guess how tax payer money shall be milked in the name of Justice.

The bill also provides for broad claims of reparations at the tax payers expense with even vague criteria like “psychological harm” being in scope.

The bill very conveniently sticks the bill for paying reparations to the state governments while conferring all kinds of powers on the Central Government to interfere.

The provisions for what a relief camp must include and the various sections on reparations and compensation speak to a typical Left Liberal mindset of large government that liberally spends tax payer money.

Another insight into the communally prejudiced mindset with which this bill was written becomes evident within the section on “Guarantee of non-repetition” on Page 50.

The search for the bodies of those killed or disappeared and assistance in the identification and reburial of the bodies in accordance with the cultural practices of the families and communities

The above language exposes the communal mindset goes to show the NAC Left Libs who drafted this Bill have made the assumption that perpetrators will always be Hindus and the victims will always be Muslims or Christians.

In conclusion it must be noted that this Bill stands out for the contempt and disregard with which it holds the Parliament of India by offering NO ROLE to Parliament in the removal of members appointed to the proposed “National Authority” .

The word Parliament occurs exactly 4 times in the entire draft bill. There is no mention in the entire draft bill on how exactly the proposed “National Authority” will be accountable to Parliament for its interventionist conduct beyond the token act of placing its annual report during the monsoon session.

In fact there is no mention at all anywhere in the Bill on who exactly the “National Authority” is accountable to for its conduct but for a vague reference to a request from the President to Supreme Court to inquire into its conduct. If there is anything at all in this bill on accountability it is the provision on “Good Faith” that essentially gives immunity to the “National Authority” from being held accountable in the Courts for its conduct.

Offstumped Bottomline: This bill has been written with just one Act of Communal Violence in mind – Gujarat 2002. It makes a mockery of the Sikh Victims of the Rajiv Gandhi lead Congress sponsored 1984 riots in Delhi by assuming that all Victims by default are Christian or Muslim. This bill is Anti-Federal and goes against the spirit and grain of the Constitution. It must be junked in toto.

Let us bring systemic reforms to hold the existing agencies of the State to account on their failure to build capacity to prevent the onset of mob violence. Let us also reform the Justice System so Justice Delivery is speeded up in the same exemplary manner demonstrated by the Kandhamal Fast Track Courts.

Filed under: Left Liberalism, Narendra Modi, Nitin Gadkari, UPA-II Critical Appraisal