The Times of India
22 March 2007
Five years after the events of 2002, a great
deal desperately remains to be done for the
people of Gujarat who suffered some of the most
brutal communal violence - especially targeting
women and children - since Independence.
Since law and order is a state subject, the
central government pleads its inability to intervene
to secure justice for the survivors of the 2002
carnage, citing constitutional propriety in
a federal structure.
But Article 355 of the Constitution authorises,
indeed requires, it to intervene in situations
of grave internal strife.
There is perhaps no instance since Independence
of such open and sustained denial to a segment
of citizens - of elementary rights of security,
livelihood, shelter and legal justice - only
on the grounds of its adherence to a minority
faith.
This is an eminently appropriate reason for
the Centre to step in with binding directions
to the state govern-ment.
Its failure to do so amounts to its abdication
of its duties to defend the secular democratic
ideals of the Constitution.
The state government has not restored even a
sense of security and equal citizenship to the
affected persons, which is evidenced by the
fact that almost five years after the mass communal
violence, several thousand people have still
not returned to their original homes and are
losing hope of doing so in the future.
Many have moved out of the state, others have
bought or rented homes in the burgeoning Muslim
ghettos that offer sectarian security, and around
30,000 who have not returned to their homes
are living in 81 makeshift relief colonies that
the state government refuses to acknowledge,
let alone equip with basic human facilities.
Socio-economic boycott is a reality in majority
of the villages that were affected by the violence
in 2002, though it is not always obvious at
first glance.
The state government has given meagre compensation,
and has no rehabilitation package in place to
aid the affected rebuild their homes and livelihoods.
Witnesses remain under great pressure to not
give evidence against those who attacked them
and destroyed their homes; often it is a precondition
for returning to their homes.
With the police, courts and prosecution being
openly biased, criminal cases against the accused
are sinking like stones in a turgid pool.
The central government recently announced a
compensation package based on the most progressive
features of the one given to the survivors of
the 1984 riots.
While this is a welcome move, the home minister
followed it up with a retraction, and confusion
conti-nues to prevail about the status of this
announcement.
The central government appears characteristically
defensive in putting its lot with people who
have had to live amidst hate and fear with tacit
or open state support.
Similarly, the anti-democratic law, POTA, has
been repealed, but without retrospective effect.
The result is that the state government is free
to misuse this draconian Act to victimise and
incarcerate members of the minority community
for many years, with very little evidence.
To counter the unprecedented subversion of the
criminal justice system, the central government
should empower the National Human Rights Commission
to re-examine all cases of closure, acquittal
and bail, and if it finds prima facie miscarriage
of justice at the stages of complaint, investigation,
prosecution and trial, it should be empowered
to order and supervise a retrial.
The central government must also establish norms
to ensure prosecution of all civil and police
officers, and political leaders, who failed
in their responsibility to prevent and control
violence, protect victims, and extend relief
and rehabilitation.
There were a few police officers who performed
their duties with exemplary fairness and courage
during the carnage. They were subsequently penalised
by the state government with punishment postings.
A special task force should be set up to monitor
and take appropriate action against all individuals
and organisations that preach or provoke hatred
amongst people on the grounds of faith.
It should take cognizance of the systematic
manufacture of hatred against minorities through
textbooks and ensure their immediate replacement
with a liberal curriculum, which actively promotes
secularism, equity, respect for all faiths,
and democracy. India cannot afford the shame,
agony and betrayal of another Gujarat.
The writer works for Aman Biradari.
