Comment |
Minority rights, a global concern Acting on the recommendations of inquiry commissions will go a long way in dealing with communal conflict The Constitution of India guarantees equality before law, prohibition of discrimi-nation on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and abolition of untouchability. It also confers rights – against exploitation, right to freedom of religion, which include freedom of conscience and free profession,practice and propagation of religion, freedom to manage religious affairs, freedom as to payment of taxesfor promotion of any particular religion and freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religiousworship in certain educational institutions. So far as India is concerned, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains are considered to be within the ambit of Hinduism. According to census of 1991, the religion-wise break–up of the population was: Hindus 672.6 million (82.41% of total), Muslims 95.2 million (11.67%), Christians 18.9 million (2.32%), Sikhs 16.3 million (1.99%), Buddhists 6.3 million (0.77%), Jains 3.4 million (0.41%0, others 3.5 million (0.43%). The government has notified five communities, namely, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Zoroastrians as minorities at the national level. As per census of 1991, together the minority groups constitute 17.17 per cent of total population of the country. The Constitution of India protects the interests of minorities and recognises their right to conserve their language, script and culture and to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. It may be mentioned here that minority in one part of the country can be a majority in other areas. Despite the Hindus being over 82% of the country’s population, they are in a minority in Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland and some other Northeast states, as well as in Punjab. The United Nations Declarations on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, recognises their basic needs and rights. It urges all countries in the world to take care of them. It is useful to recall some articles of this declaration. Article 1: States shall protect the existence of the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories, and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity. States shall adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to achieve those ends. Article 2:Persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, and to use their own language in private and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination. Persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in culture, religious, social, economic and public life. Persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in taking decisions, on the national and where appropriate regional level, concerning the minority, to which they belong, or the regions in which they live, in a manner not incompatible with national legislation. Persons belonging to minorities have the right to establish and maintain their own associations. Persons belonging to the minorities, have the right to establish and maintain, without any discrimination, free and peaceful contacts with other members of their group and with persons belonging to other minorities as well as contacts across frontiers with citizens of other states to whom they are related by national or ethnic, religious or linguistic ties. Article 3: Persons belonging to minorities may exercise their rights, including those set forth in this declaration, individually as well as a community, with other members of their group without any discrimination. No disadvantage shall result for any person as a consequence of the exercise or non-exercise of the rights set forth in this declaration. There is no country which does not have some minority in its frontiers. For instance, in UK, Catholics are a minority but they are a majority in Ireland. In Ulster, Protestants are the majority and the Catholics are a minority. In Pakistan Ahmedias, since their derecognition as Muslims, have become a minority. In Latin American countries, Catholics are in majority. In the Philippines, Muslims are a minority vis–à–vis Christians. In Israel, Arab Muslims are a minority vis–à–vis Jews. Despite the governments’ claim of doing their best, conflicts keep on arising between majorities and minorities. The basic problem in India has been the problem of the Muslim community vis-a-vis the Hindu majority. No other minority has faced so many riots as the Muslims. Sikhs had to face only one riot by the majority community in the year 1984, after the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. There also, it must be said to the credit of the majority community, that except for a few hoodlums, the rest stood by the Sikh community and saved many lives. It was the pressure of the majority community, which forced the government of the day to start cases for punishing the guilty. The Sikh community, itself has also been vocal against any injustice. A number of commissions have been set up to deal with the question of riots involving the majority and the minorities. They have repeatedly pointed what went wrong and how matters should have been handled. The National Police Commission noted: “In one town, where a serious communal riot was raging for a very long period and where curfew was imposed continuously, for days,the district officers could not even decide on the arrest of the anti–social elements, as there was continuous unwarranted interference with their discretion by the political executive.” Constant consultation and seeking of instructions in riot situations is a totally impractical procedure. Time generally works against the administration, and initial hesitation in dealing firmly with a riotous situation soon results in its escalation in size and intensity. The result is that later effective control over the situation can only be achieved with heavier causalities and by a more indiscriminate use of force. At some place, the leadership not only failed
to act decisively, but was also unable to control the force. In the absence
of their officers, the force at times retaliated more like a mob in anger.
In some incidents some police officers and men appear to have shown unmistakable
bias against a particular community while dealing with communal situations.
Serious allegations of high–handedness, including criminal activities,
as arson and looting, molestation of women, etc. have been levelled against
the police deployed to protect the citizens. There is evidence to suggest
that in one recent riot the police resorted to uncontrolled firing,
In another incident, it was alleged that a group
of anti-social elements was able to brutally kill many persons, including
men and children, while the police was present in the vicinity. In yet
another incident, it
The real villain, who allows the situation to
deteriorate by not taking firm action in the initial stages to control
the situation, manages to go scot–free. The reluctance to order the use
of force, to control the
It has been alleged that anti-social elements have the protection of influential politicians. Any interference from any quarter in the preparation of lists of anti–social elements and in the initiation of action against them needs to be deprecated. If the police officers themselves prepare a defective list, then the blame for such omission should be laid squarely upon them. If a person whose antecedents are such as to lead to the inference that he is an anti-social element, prompt action should be taken against him. A developing situation can be defused effectively
by enlisting public co-operation. Several commissions in the past have
stressed the role of peace committees. It should be ensured that important
men with
The peace committees can also play a very important
role in removing fear, mitigating panic, reducing tension and restoring
normalcy in the area. In sensitive areas with a history of communal riots
such peace
Loss of credibility in the police has serious
repercussions. The public will neither trust nor co–operate with such an
administration in dealing firmly with the situation. And without active
public co-operation, it is
Any inhibition on the part of the authorities
in recruiting members of the minority community in the police merely
because they belong to a particular community should be strongly discouraged.
The police forces
a) A special intelligence unit should be constituted
at the state and central levels. The unit should be composed of persons
especially trained and possessing aptitude and absolute impartiality needed
for this
b) Intelligence agencies should furnish their reports and assessments to the district magistrates and district superintendent of police regularly and without any delay. c) The district magistrate and district superintendent of police should be charged with personal responsibility for scrutinising these reports and taking preventive actions promptly to forestall any communal disturbance. d) A close watch should be kept on rumour mongering. e) Places of worship should not be used to hold meetings, which tend to create a communal disturbance, disharmony and ill–will. Special measures to prevent and deal with such meetings should be taken. f) The government should prevent the publication of alarming, incorrect or provocative news or of views likely to promote communal ill-will or hatred to disturb communal harmony. Punitive measures: a) The district magistrate and superintendent of police should be made personally responsible for prompt action to prevent or stop communal disturbances. b) Special teams of investigation should be detailed for investigation of offences committed during communal disturbances. c) Failure to take prompt and effective action should be considered as a dereliction of duty. The officer concerned should be dealt with accordingly. d) A system of suitable recognition of service rendered in preventing or dealing with communal disturbances should be introduced. e) Offences should be investigated and the offenders
prosecuted promptly. Prosecution once launched should not be withdrawn.
Special courts with summary powers to deal with offences connected with
The government has set up a National Commission
for Minorities through special legislation in 1992. It has been assigned
specific duties and given substantial powers. The commission for linguistic
minorities
For improving the employability of minorities and socially and economically backward people, in public employment and increasing their intake in professional courses, a pre–examination coaching scheme is being implemented. The government has also set up a National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation with an authorised share capital of Rs. 500 crore. It would have been better and in the overall interests of the minorities if all organisations set up by the government were to function as a part and parcel of the minorities commission. For effectively ameliorating the plight of the minorities, it is essential to give some teeth to the minority commission. Except for the minorities themselves, no body can raise their standard of living and status. I happened to ask a colleague as to how the Jews,
though killed in millions by Germans, have managed to survive. He told
me an interesting anecdote. After the Holocaust, Jews decided that wherever
there are 10 Jewish families they would run their own educational institutions.
The result of this has been the excellence of Jews in scientific, industrial,
educational and academic fields. Though the population of Jews is less
than 2% of the USA, more than 145 Jews are representing Americans in the
House of Representative and the Senate. My view is that it is not necessary
to depend on crunches of reservations for upliftment of minorities. For
instance, very few Marathis and Gujaratis enter civil service. They are
doing well in life. The two states are prosperous, without having representation
in various services, in proportion to their population. I am in the end
reminded of an Urdu couplet, which I am paraphrasing in the context of
Joginder Singh
(The writer was formerly director, CBI). |