Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said the Janata Dal United (JD-U) is in favour of the Anti Communal Violence Bill and added that there should proper discussions with the states before the bill is passed.
"We are in favor of a law for prevention of communal violence. I think that for a strong law, there should be a proper discussion with the states on this matter," Nitish told media here today.
"If a state is unable to handle the communal riots, then the central government should interfere and declare the area as 'disturbed area'. Afterwards, central forces should be used to handle the riots. There should be a provision which provides adequate compensation for the people who suffered in the communal riots," he added.
"This is a right step towards stopping the communal riots in the country as it is desirable also. There is no doubt about it. But there should have been a debate on states political level," he said.
On Monday, the Cabinet cleared the Anti Communal Violence Bill, which is likely to be tabled in the current session of the Parliament.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had said, "The draft bill titled 'Prevention of communal Violence access to Justice and Reparations 2013' has been approved by the cabinet."
"The Bill will be introduced the Parliament," Shinde added.
The 'Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2013' proposes to impose duties on the Centre and state governments and their officers to exercise their powers in an impartial and non-discriminatory manner to prevent and control targeted violence, including mass violence against religious or linguistic minorities, SCs and STs.
The bill also proposes constitution of a body - National Authority for Communal Harmony, Justice and Reparation - by the Centre to exercise the powers and perform the functions assigned to it under this Act. The bill largely sticks to the provisions prepared by Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC).
