Mumbai: A nationwide campaign has begun to pressurise the United Progressive Alliance-led government to table a bill that protects religious and linguistic minorities across India and also, for the first time, addresses and redefines dereliction of duty by public servants.
Though the bill has received vociferous opposition from the Bharatiya Janata Party which has described it as anti-majority, it is gradually gathering support with several groups and individuals rooting for an all-India campaign to create awareness that if the bill is passed, it would only create a safer society for all Indians and ensure action against the government, bureaucrats, police and security agencies for dereliction of duty.
“The proposed new law seeks to protect religious and linguistic minorities in any state in India, as well as Dalits and Adivasis, from targeted and organised, communal violence,” Teesta Setalvad, Convenor, Justice for All Campaign Ad Hoc Committee, said. “For example, Kashmiri pandits in Jammu and Kashmir, Biharis in Maharashtra, Tamilians in Karnataka, are minorities in those states as also Muslims, Christians, Dalits and tribals in other parts of India,” she said.
Hate propaganda which has often led to communal riots in this country will be nipped in the bud in time if this law is in place. Setalvad said this bill was important as it worked towards prevention of both communal and linguistic violence. Actor, Rahul Bose, who has been in the vanguard of taking up such issues and making his stand clear, said, “It’s shortsighted and wrong to say that this bill is for the appeasement of minorities since some day we will also be in the minority.” It is significant in providing equal compensation and standardising the procedure for Compensation and Reparation, “ensuring that dignity is returned to the process and does not depend upon the whims of the government in power.”
