[Evidently, provision for way too harsher punishment for desecration of (four specified) holy books would just not be open to mischiefs and misuse by those in power but also, even more importantly, would help to further legitimise religious frenzy, already at a high level, and attacks against all sorts of act act perceived to be "hurting religious sentiments". Its impact won't be restricted to the confines of Punjab only.
Such a threat strikes at the very roots of a secular democratic order. This has got to be resisted. <<The Amarinder Singh cabinet, on Tuesday (August 21), approved amendments to the CrPC and IPC, making the desecration of religious texts punishable with life in Punjab. It made the case for the insertion of Section 295 AA, providing that “whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwad Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people, shall be punished with imprisonment for life”. .. ... The bill was first enacted by the previous Akali Dal-BJP government as a desperate damage-control exercise in the wake of Sikh rage over a rash of desecrations of the Sikh holy book in 2015. The amendment at that time specifically sought life imprisonment for desecration of Guru Granth Sahib and a 10- year term for that of other religious texts. But the home ministry returned the bill saying it would violate the Constitutional principle of secularism and was “excessive in law”. The current Congress government in the state withdrew the bill last year. The home ministry has to approve state-specific changes in the central code. ... It is no coincidence that the bill’s presentation in the assembly on August 24 has been timed with the tabling of the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report which squarely blames the previous government for the past incidents of sacrilege. Harsh blasphemy laws in other countries have been brazenly misused to settle political scores and silence opponents of the ruling regime. They also feed religious frenzy as we have seen in our neighbourhood. The only redeeming aspect is that Punjab’s bill will have (to) go through central scrutiny. Hopefully, at that stage the more draconian provisions of the bill will be removed.>> (Excerpted from sl. no. I. below.) <<The Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab has decided to introduce a bill in the forthcoming assembly session to amend the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 to make sacrilege of religious scriptures punishable by life imprisonment. The amended part would include Section 295 AA in the IPC to make sacrilege punishable for desecration of not only the Guru Granth Sahib, as was the case with the earlier bill passed by the Shiromani Akali Dal government, but also include the scriptures of other religious communities, i.e. Bhagavad Gita, Bible and Quran. Once passed by the legislature, it would await the Centre’s approval — an earlier bill was returned by the Centre on the ground that the punishment sought should have been for hurting the religious sentiments of all communities. ... The Congress’ move to further strengthen the blasphemy law has come at a time when the middle classes in society are moving towards right-wing politics based on religious identity. The Constitution underlines the secular democratic character of Indian polity by not only invoking it in the Preamble but also by guaranteeing the right to religious freedom through Articles 19 and 25. Given this, there are existing laws to punish those who hurts religious sentiments — so, is there a need to bring an extraordinary law? We are witnessing mobs going on a rampage justifying their acts in the name of religion; extraordinary laws, such as the ones to protect national security, have led to highhandedness by state agencies, and; such laws have led to political parties misusing it in the past. The proposed blasphemy law must be seen in this light.>> I/II. https://www.hindustantimes.com/editorials/punjab-s-effort-to-criminalise-blasphemy-further-is-dangerous/story-7eKE57Ub71fjP9hUIWjGoL.html Punjab’s effort to criminalise blasphemy further is dangerous Going a step ahead over the previous version of the Bill by proposing life-term for sacrilege of all religious texts hints at the Punjab Congress’s attempt to score the political brownie points. Updated: Aug 24, 2018 12:04 IST Hindustan Times The Amarinder Singh cabinet approved amendments to the CrPC and IPC, making the desecration of religious texts punishable with life in Punjab(Anil Dayal/HT) In what seems a clear attempt to pander to religious sensibilities, the Punjab government has sought a state-specific amendment to make the country’s blasphemy law under Section 295 of the IPC more stringent. Currently, it prescribes two years punishment for “injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class.” The Amarinder Singh cabinet, on Tuesday, approved amendments to the CrPC and IPC, making the desecration of religious texts punishable with life in Punjab. It made the case for the insertion of Section 295 AA, providing that “whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwad Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people, shall be punished with imprisonment for life”. Criminalising the blasphemy law further is fraught with danger and it needs to undergo much more legal scrutiny before it is pushed through, if at all. Even the context and timing of the Bill has more to do with scoring populist brownie points in a state where religion and politics mingle ceaselessly. The bill was first enacted by the previous Akali Dal-BJP government as a desperate damage-control exercise in the wake of Sikh rage over a rash of desecrations of the Sikh holy book in 2015. The amendment at that time specifically sought life imprisonment for desecration of Guru Granth Sahib and a 10- year term for that of other religious texts. But the home ministry returned the bill saying it would violate the Constitutional principle of secularism and was “excessive in law”. The current Congress government in the state withdrew the bill last year. The home ministry has to approve state-specific changes in the central code. Still, the issue remains an emotive one. What has raised political temperatures is a report by the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission set up by the Amarinder government to probe past incidents of blasphemy. It is no coincidence that the bill’s presentation in the assembly on August 24 has been timed with the tabling of the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report which squarely blames the previous government for the past incidents of sacrilege. Harsh blasphemy laws in other countries have been brazenly misused to settle political scores and silence opponents of the ruling regime. They also feed religious frenzy as we have seen in our neighbourhood. The only redeeming aspect is that Punjab’s bill will have [to] go through central scrutiny. Hopefully, at that stage the more draconian provisions of the bill will be removed. II. https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/politics/opinion-amarinder-singhs-blasphemy-law-can-have-disastrous-consequences-in-punjab-2877321.html Last Updated : Aug 24, 2018 02:59 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com Opinion | Amarinder Singh’s blasphemy law can have disastrous consequences in Punjab Even when seen from the narrow political terms, the Congress can only hope to have a short-term gains as the use religious sentiments for political purposes is more likely to help the Akali Dal and the BJP Ashutosh Kumar The Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab has decided to introduce a bill in the forthcoming assembly session to amend the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 to make sacrilege of religious scriptures punishable by life imprisonment. The amended part would include Section 295 AA in the IPC to make sacrilege punishable for desecration of not only the Guru Granth Sahib, as was the case with the earlier bill passed by the Shiromani Akali Dal government, but also include the scriptures of other religious communities, i.e. Bhagavad Gita, Bible and Quran. Once passed by the legislature, it would await the Centre’s approval — an earlier bill was returned by the Centre on the ground that the punishment sought should have been for hurting the religious sentiments of all communities. The Congress government’s decision to introduce the bill coincides with its decision to table the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission Report, which looked into incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and the ensuing protests in several villages in late 2015. Protesters were killed in police firing in Behbal Kalan and Kotakpura in Faridkot. Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal’s name has also figured in the report. Badal has also been accused of pressurising the head granthi of Takht Damdama Sahib and other Sikh priests to exonerate the Dera Sacha Sauda chief of blasphemy charges after he was charged with impersonating the 10th Sikh Guru. With the bill and the report, the Congress has revived its attack on the Akali Dal, charging the party of failing to check repeated incidents of desecration of the holy book and trying to exonerate the Dera chief eyeing the votes from his followers. In politics, timing matters. The Congress is trying to do two things as 2019 elections is around the corner with Punjab among the few states where the party clearly fancies its chances. One, the party wants to remind the panthic voter about the abject failure of the Akali Dal to check the repeated acts of sacrilege hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikh community. The Akali leadership (read the Badal family), despite remaining in power for two terms (2007-17), has been at the receiving end from both the panthic voter and the sizeable Sikh diaspora for weakening not only the ideology of the cadre-based party but also the two pillars of Sikh politics — the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Akal Takht. In the 2014 and 2017 polls, many of the disgruntled panthic voters supported the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). As the AAP in Punjab seems to be on the verge of imploding, Singh, who had resigned from the Congress after Operation Blue Star, aims to wean away the committed panthic vote of the Akali Dal and the AAP in Congress’ favour. Second, the party also wants to flaunt its secular character to strengthen its support base among other communities by proposing the sacrilege bill. While the Akali Dal must take its share of the blame, the Congress cannot get away for playing with the religious sentiments of the people in a state which has in the past witnessed such politics taking a disastrous turn. The Congress’ move to further strengthen the blasphemy law has come at a time when the middle classes in society are moving towards right-wing politics based on religious identity. The Constitution underlines the secular democratic character of Indian polity by not only invoking it in the Preamble but also by guaranteeing the right to religious freedom through Articles 19 and 25. Given this, there are existing laws to punish those who hurts religious sentiments — so, is there a need to bring an extraordinary law? We are witnessing mobs going on a rampage justifying their acts in the name of religion; extraordinary laws, such as the ones to protect national security, have led to highhandedness by state agencies, and; such laws have led to political parties misusing it in the past. The proposed blasphemy law must be seen in this light. Even when seen from the narrow political/electoral terms, the Congress can only hope to have a short-term gains as any attempt to use religious sentiments for political purposes is more likely to help the Akali Dal, the past master of panthic politics, and the BJP. (Ashutosh Kumar is professor, department of political science, Panjab University. Views expressed are personal) -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. 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