The past Thursday saw the re-emergence of issues for minority by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Asma Jehangir. Some of the burning issues on her list were the delay of justice provided to the riot victims and the use of religion by politicians who provoke communal disturbance in the country, India has a legal framework to protect minorities but the common scenario is that the minorities still remain dissatisfied by the legislative system and the implementation of laws which protect their rights.
After more than 5 decades of independence religious minorities continue to remain under fear as communal disturbance remains a reality on the face of secular India.

Asma Jehangir stressed on the prompt delivery of justice to riot victims and expressed concern on the lengthy and extensive time taken by investigations in such cases. She laid stress on communal riots and violence following those in 1984 where the Sikh community was targeted and reacted with surprise on the 44th extension of the Babri Masjid demolition case.

Parts of the county still remain under constant communal tension between communities such as those professing Hindutva in Orissa, the anti conversion law in the state highlights the faulty system that deviates from secularism which is one of the key features of the constitution of India. Asma Jehangir brings to focus the biased reaction of the security forces which dealing with the Gujarat riots where thousands of Muslims were massacred in the name of religion while the forces found it difficult to control violence for a long time and compared it to the disturbance in Kashmir where swift action was taken to control the situation when the Kashmiri pundits were forced to flee their homes.

Asma said that she will be coming up with a report where she will provide a follow up on the developments that took place in the past 12 years and as she wants to analyze what changed have occurred and how.

The communal beliefs in different states of India continue to be that of fear and simmering tension for the minorities. The Christians in Orissa or Muslims in Gujarat are still the subject of violence incited by religious political groups, they find themselves without any shelter as the justice seems to take ages to reach them and perpetrators are continue to spread unrest and further tension. The situation can only be brought to a check if the justice is delivered with swiftness and as Asma Jehangir stressed the implementation of the recommendations of the Sanchar committee are brought to effect with sincerity by the government.

Meanwhile, the citizens continue to reside in a country which is democratic by nature yet finds authoritarian snippets in the different parts with very little to diffuse the problem.

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VIA:DAWN