The Hindu : Stringent laws against attacks on minorities

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 17, 2003

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Other States - Uttar Pradesh

Stringent laws against attacks on minorities

By J P Shukla

LUCKNOW JULY 16. The Minorities Commission Chairman, Tarlochan Singh, today sought suitable improvements in the country's legal system to ensure exemplary punishment to culprits involved in atrocities against minorities. The existing system had failed to deal with the problem effectively because of the inordinate delay in trial of cases.

He would shortly meet the Chief Justice of India and the Union Law Secretary to discuss the issue and urge them to take necessary reformative measures, Mr Singh said.

Talking to newspersons here, Mr Singh said there were cases concerning brutalities against members of minority communities such as attacks on Sikhs in Delhi in 1984 and Hashimpura and Pilibhit incidents in Uttar Pradesh that had been lingering on in courts for decades. By the time evidence was called, most of it was wiped out and the culprits got advantage of the lacuna.

The legal system should be reformed so that evidence was recorded in time and no culprits were allowed to escape justice, he said.

Asked about the judgement in the Best Bakery case in Gujarat, where no one could be convicted by court, the Minorities Commission Chairman said he had noted the remarks of the judge according to which no one could be punished because of lack of evidence. That showed that the prosecution had failed to do its job.

Now the remedy lay with the Gujarat Government going in appeal against the judgement in the High Court. Also the State Government should engage a renowned private lawyer to plead its case. Only the High Court could order a retrial of the case and "we have to wait for that process'', he said.

But the Best Bakery case was only one of the, more than 800 cases concerning riots in Gujarat, he said. His concern was not only one case but all the other cases in which trial was still to come to an end. Only proper work by the prosecution could bring the culprits to justice in these cases.

Mr. Singh, who has been on a two-day visit to the Uttar Pradesh capital concluding today, said he had visited a large number of madrasas and found that most of the propaganda against their functioning was based on misconceptions. He did not find any of the allegations against these religious, educational institutions factually correct.

He had seen the syllabus of madrasas and also the content of books. Those making allegations against these institutions should visit them to find for themselves what was happening there, he advised.

The madrasas were, instead, making all efforts to modernise their activities. Besides imparting religious education the managements had shown all eagerness to educate their students in modern sciences and other branches of knowledge, he said.

There had been demands for establishing a Madrasa Board even in Gujarat and he had taken up the matter with the Chief Minister, Narendra Mody.

The Minorities Commission Chairman wanted the same powers to minorities commissions set up in different states that were enjoyed by him. The State commissions should be placed on a sound footing and allowed power to perform their activities properly. He said he would plead with the UP Chief Minister, Mayawati, to grant a higher status to the State Minority Commission, keeping with its responsibilities.

Mr Singh expressed satisfaction at the communal relations in the country, saying that he had been making all attempts to bring community leaders to discuss various issues across the table. Dialogue among communities should continue unhindered and that alone could generate a feeling of mutual understanding and goodwill. The leaders he had met during his visit to Lucknow had also supported his idea of having continuous dialogues, he added.

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