Communal violence prevention bill to be taken ahead: Sibal

New Delhi: Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said Thursday that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was determined to take forward the communal violence prevention bill despite objections from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Sibal told reporters that the bill was likely to go to standing committee after it is introduced in parliament.

"We do not want any state government not to be accountable for the kind of things that happened in the past," Sibal said, in an apparent reference to the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002.

The minister said the bill will make governments or individuals accountable.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley has said that provisions of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011, intrude into the domain of the state, damage the federal polity and create an imbalance in the inter-community relationship of India.

The bill was placed in public domain for suggestions last week by the National Advisory Council (NAC).

One of the key guiding principles of the bill is the need for an independent national authority to ensure effective compliance with the law without disturbing India's federal structure.

 

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Picture of the Day

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov witnessing the signing of agreements between two countries, in New Delhi on May 18, 2011.

(Photo: BM Meena)