VHP protests against communal violence Bill

NAGPUR: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its allied Sangh Parivar organisations on Monday alleged that the proposed Bill on prevention of communal violence was loaded against majority Hindu community and was just another minority appeasement measure by the UPA government.At the sit-in (dharna) staged at Variety Square, speakersincluding Dilip Gupta, chief of RSS' city unit, Subodh Acharya of the BajrangDal, Amol Thakre of the VHP, Bunty Kukde of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha,Shakeel Patel of Rashtriya Muslim Manch and Aruna Sathe of Rashtriya SevikaSangh spoke on the occasion. Hemant Jambhekar, vice-president of VHP Vidarbhaunit presided over the function.RSS city unit chief Dilip Gupta saidthat the proposed Bill which is to come up in parliament session next month,would only create wider rift between communities and bring them at loggerheadsdestroying peace and harmony that now exists. The speakers said thatthe provisions in the Bill were based on the premise that the majority communityis always the aggressor and the minority always a victim. There are severaldraconian clauses like extending the chargesheet period to 180 days during whichsuspects could be kept under custody, a separate agency to investigate andprosecute incidents of communal incidents and powers to the agency to attachproperty of the accused and if proven, guilty proceeds from those assets to beused for rehabilitation of riot victims.Speakers claimed that theBill was biased against Hindus and it was time to protest against it effectivelyto check the government from bringing in the legislation. They also alleged thatit was part of the UPA government's policy of appeasing minority communities. Itwould not be applicable in Jammu and Kashmir and to riots where communitiesother than Hindus are involved, they said.