Creating a robust accountability system

The clearing of the controversial Communal Violence Bill, a watered-down version of the National Advisory Council’s draft, by the Union Cabinet at a special three-hour-long meeting on December 16 may have come too late for it to be enacted by the 15th Lok Sabha. For instance, Mr. Modi, who has been silent on the Muzaffarnagar riots, has, however, been vocal on the Communal Violence Bill ever since the Centre dispatched copies of a draft to State governments last month. Community-neutral In the reworked version, now named the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill, 2013, the Union government has taken on board the criticism heaped on the earlier draft by the BJP and by State governments. The Bill may be flawed, but, surely, pondering over a document that wishes to create a robust accountability system and seeks to lay down national standards for the entire spectrum of provisions for victims of communal violence — including rescue, relief, compensation, rehabilitation, resettlement, restitution, reparation and recognising the rights of internally displaced persons — cannot be a bad thing, what with Muzaffarnagar still fresh in our minds.