| |
|
Slide 1 :
|
COMMUNAL
HARMONY |
|
|
Slide 2 :
|
INTRODUCTION Harmony in a nation refers to the peace and brotherhood among its citizens. For developing a soulful music it is necessary that all the music instruments work in a coordinated manner. Similarly, for working of a nation it is necessary that its entire citizen live in harmony and brotherhood. Harmony can also be described as a reaction which produces several noble by products such as unity, humanity, love and affection. Our country follows the GANDHIAN principles and spreads the message of fraternity. Though India is a widely diverse nation, but it’s like a dream come true when we see a sense of brotherhood among its citizens. It is due to communal harmony that in recent years India has dominated on the social and economical front. Even though our constitution provides a full-proof base to have a strong building of communal harmony but our country is still facing difficulties to maintain it.
|
|
|
Slide 3 :
|
India is the largest democracy of the world. History of democracy in India goes to the remote past. This system of governance is in fact quite suitable and conducive to the nature of inhabitants of this country. Not only had this, for the unity of India, particularly in the achievement of political unity of the country, democracy played the vital role. Despite numerous glitches and expected evils, democracy largely contributes to strengthening communal harmony in India. In other words, it emerges as a strong force for maintaining the solidarity of the nation. However, the need of the hour is to make democracy the centre and basis of belief for the maximum possible number of people, all religious-community, sects and sub-sects. Besides ascertaining the stability of the country, it can also contribute making India as a leading force of the world in these days of increasing process of globalization. |
|
|
Slide 4 :
|
The biggest boulder on the road of communal harmony is religion. Now the question arises: What is religion? Religion is a set of noble ideas which shows the correct path to its followers so that their birth on this Earth doesn't go waste. Every religion propagates the moral of fraternity, peace and harmony, but the followers of the religion has failed to interpret the correct meaning of these ideas. People feel that their religion is superior than the religions which has created barriers among the followers of different religion. It is sad to see that now religion has also been divided into fragments called CASTE. It is said that" THE SMALLER THE THING IS, BIGGER THE PROBLEM IT CREATES." Similarly, caste being a small fragment is now-a-days creating much bigger problems in our society. Every day we see the newspapers filled with the news of curfew, massacre and disputes because - a single person of some other caste or religion said something that panicked the other religion or caste.
|
|
|
Slide 5 :
|
MAINTAINENCE OF COMMUNAL HARMONY The maintenance of communal harmony, and
The prevention/avoidance of communal
disturbances/riots and, in the event of
any such disturbances occurring, action to
control the same and measures to
provide protection and relief to the affected
persons, is a prime responsibility
of the State Governments. |
|
|
Slide 6 :
|
1. Preventing a communal riot is far more important than containing it.
In this context, the District Administration should carefully assess the
communal situation in the District on a regular basis and prepare a profile of
the District. They should identify and specify areas which are prone to
communal sensitivities and tensions, inter alia, in the light of : (a) the
demographic profile; (b) the existence of any structures, monuments, etc.,
around which there may be existing or potential disputes/controversies; (c)
any other disputes over land or any other issues which may have a potential
for generating communal disputes/tensions; (d) routes of processions, etc.,
which may have led to disputes or tensions in the past, or have such potential
in future; (e) the history of past disputes, clashes and riots, (f) and, history of
religious conversions/reconversions, etc. Based on these, and any other
relevant factors, specific areas should be identified as sensitive/hypersensitive
and, the position in this regard should be periodically reviewed and
updated. PREVENTIVE MEASURES |
|
|
Slide 7 :
|
2. Details as above should also be
systematically maintained at each
Police station concerned. The Station House
Officers and other senior
officials at the police station level should keep
A close watch on the situation
in such areas, apart from periodically visiting
them for promoting public
contact and interface with the civilian
population and community leaders. |
|
|
Slide 8 :
|
3. Communally sensitive places should be
identified in the riot-prone
areas for making necessary administrative
arrangements. Police Stations/Posts should be set
up in all sensitive/trouble-prone areas.
Manpower requirements for these areas should be realistically assessed. It
should be ensured that all vacancies are filled up and manned. They should
be provided with adequate personnel, weaponry, communication links,
equipment for videography, vehicles etc. and these should be constantly
reviewed. |
|
|
Slide 9 :
|
4. With reference to the sensitive/hyper-sensitive areas as mentioned
above, the District Administration should anticipate possible developments
that can happen on certain occasions, or in different kinds of situations, and
prepare detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and contingency
plans to deal with them, so that escalated situation/riots, etc., could be pre
empted/prevented. |
|
|
Slide 10 :
|
5. Special attention needs to be given to developing mechanisms for intelligence and information gathering, and suitably integrating them with the response mechanism. The intelligence feed back, especially from the ground level, should be effectively made use of by the administration. The district administration also needs to develop independent sources of intelligence as such sources will have higher credibility. This could be done by developing contacts and sources among the community, substantial activation of the traditional ‘beat constable’ system, and posting of intelligence personnel in the hyper-sensitive/sensitive areas/police stations. Such persons should be properly trained and briefed and, if necessary,
suitable incentives could be given to them. |
|
|
Slide 11 :
|
6. A weekly/fortnightly intelligence/situation report should be sent to the
sub-divisional/district level by each police station in hypersensitive/
sensitive areas, and the situation should be reviewed on a monthly
basis at the level of District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police.
During such reviews, compliance with the guidelines mentioned above
should be specifically seen. In addition, this should also be done during
inspections of the Police Stations and sub-divisional offices. |
|
|
Slide 12 :
|
7. Senior Police and Administration officers at the District and other
levels should visit the communally sensitive areas from time to time, even
during periods of normalcy, and interact with the responsible community
leaders with a view to developing a rapport with them. |
|
|
Slide 13 :
|
8. Activities of organizations with avowed goals that could undermine
communal harmony should be continuously kept under careful watch and
scrutiny, and a record of the activities maintained. If any such organizations
are found to be indulging in any unlawful activity as defined in the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, action to declare them as Unlawful
Associations under the Act and other consequential action should be taken.
District/Police Station level monitoring of these organizations should be
carried out at periodic intervals. |
|
|
Slide 14 :
|
ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES 1. At the State level meetings of the State level Integration
Committee, under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister,
may be held at least once in a quarter to review the communal
situation in the State. |
|
|
Slide 15 :
|
2. At the level of the State Government, a nodal cell may be
set up to act as a clearing house of information on the
communal situation and matters related thereto. It may
maintain a database on various communal incidents,
including details about the damage caused, lists of cases
registered and progress of prosecution, etc. It could also
study the patterns of communal disturbances in the State
with a view to preparing appropriate preventive plans. In
addition, it could coordinate with other departments/agencies
on issues relating to compensation, relief and rehabilitation,
etc.
|
|
|
Slide 16 :
|
1. The composition of the police force, especially those deployed in communally sensitive areas, should be representative of the social structure of the region so as to ensure its credibility, and help in creating a feeling of confidence among all sections of the people.
2. In communally sensitive and riot prone areas police and administrative officials of proven integrity, efficiency, impartiality and non-partisan outlook should be posted. PERSONAL POLICY |
|
|
Slide 17 :
|
In a communally-sensitive area, small shopkeepers,
entrepreneurs and daily-wagers are most prone to loss and
damage to life and property, if the situation goes out of
control, leading to arson or violence. They are most likely to
face economic burden, due to loss of income or property,
most of which is not covered under any type of insurance.
They can thus be the most willing partners in maintaining
peace and communal harmony in the area. Similarly, women
who are the worst sufferers in such situations may also be
keen to ensure communal harmony. The district
administration can tap the resources and energy of these
people/groups in ensuring peace. PARTICIPATION BY STAKEHOLDERS |
|
|
Slide 18 :
|
PRESS/MEDIA AND AWARENESS BUILDING Promoting the cause of communal harmony and peace should be a constant Endeavour of the administration. For this, a multi-media publicity and promotion campaign needs to be conducted, on a continuing basis, from time to time. |
|
|
Slide 19 :
|
Whenever any communal incidents are apprehended or occur, prompt and immediate preventive/enforcement action
may be taken, including, imposition of prohibitory orders/
curfew, as necessary, and strict and neutral enforcement of
the same, apprehension /arrest of the potential miscreants/
those indulging in violence, arson, etc., registration/institution
of cases. ENFORCEMENT ACTION |
|
|
Slide 20 :
|
1. A lot of resentment is generated on account of non-payment
of timely relief/ex-gratia to the riot victims. A system of
expeditious disbursement of the relief should, therefore, be
devised. Interim relief may be provided immediately to the
individuals for any loss or damage suffered due to communal
violence. RELIEF AND REHABILITATION |
|
|
Slide 21 :
|
2. While providing assistance and relief to the victims of
communal violence, it should be ensured that there is no
discrimination on the ground of sex, caste, community,
descent or religion. |
|
|
Slide 22 :
|
3. The district administration should ensure timely provision of
essential supplies/services such as food, milk, medicines,
water and electricity, etc., in areas affected by communal violence.
4. Wherever it becomes necessary to set up relief camps,
proper arrangements for security and other appropriate
amenities should be made, including arrangements for
medical examination/ assistance, etc. |
|
|
Slide 23 :
|
5. Wherever required, on account of damage to residential and
commercial property, an appropriate mechanism may be established for speedy disposal of insurance claim and assistance from financial institutions by way of loans/ rescheduling
of loans, etc. |
|
|
Slide 24 :
|
6. The Central Government has launched a Central Scheme for assistance to victims of terrorist and communal violence, where under there is provision for one time payment of Rs.3
lakh to the affected families in addition to any ex-gratia relief that may be provided. Proper arrangements for implementation of the scheme may be ensured. |
|
|
Slide 25 :
|
NECESSITY India is the largest democracy of the world .This system of governance is in fact quite suitable and conducive to the nature of inhabitants of this country. Not only this, for the unity of India, particularly in the achievement of political unity of the country, democracy played the vital role. Despite numerous glitches and expected evils, democracy largely contributes to strengthening communal harmony in India. However, the need of the hour is to make democracy the centre and basis of belief for the maximum possible number of people, all religious-community, sects and sub-sects. Besides ascertaining the stability of the country, it can also contribute making India as a leading force of the world in these days of increasing process of globalization.
Therefore, increasing communal harmony is essential for India; there is no other alternative to it.
|
|
|
Slide 26 :
|
THANK YOU A PRESENTATION BY -
VAIBHAV SHARMA X A |
|