They are determined to continue the fight for a strong Bill that would curb the menace of communal violence if it is made into law. They want that the alternative draft should go through the wishes of civil society.
In a joint statement social activists Shabnam Hashmi, John Dayal, Vrinda Grover, Usha Ramanathan has asked secular, democratic, people’s groups and movements from across India to join their efforts in making a stronger bill that could control the violence effectively.
The said that civil society groups have repeatedly rejected, the Communal Violence Bill, 2005, prepared by the Home Ministry as it does not address the core issues of challenging impunity, ensuring accountability of the sponsors and perpetrators of the violence and securing the rights of victims and survivors.
Non-negotiable and key elements of this law were prepared through national consultations organised by anti-communal groups, and these were given to the government for being introduced into the law. The National Advisory Council too adopted these as its framework when it began its work on the Bill in July 2010.
“Having engaged with the NAC process for 7 months in different capacities, we find that the draft in progress is severely insufficient to address the lacunae and gaps of the government Bill of 2005” they said in statement adding that at this juncture, with the government trying to reintroduce the ‘discredited’ Communal Violence Bill of 2005 in the current session of Parliament and our reservation with the draft in progress, “we have taken the step to withdraw from the NAC process”.