INTRODUCTION

“Caste cannot be abolished by inter caste dinners or stray instances of inter caste marriages. Caste is a
state of mind. It is a diseases of mind ‘the teachings of the Hindu religion are the root cause of this
disease. We practice casteism and we observe untouchability because we are enjoined to do so by the
Hindu religion. Bitter thing cannot he made sweet (the taste of anything can be changed but poison
cannot he changed into nectar).” ~ Dr.
B. R. Ambedkar

Communal violence is a form of violence that is perpetrated across ethnic or communal lines, the
violent parties feel solidarity for their respective groups, and victims are chosen based upon
group membership. The term includes conflicts, riots and other forms of violence
between communities of different religious faith or ethnic origins. United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime includes any conflict and form of violence between communities of different
religious group, different sects or tribes of same religious group, clans, ethnic origins or
national origin as communal violence. However, this excludes conflict between two individuals
or two families.
The term communal violence was constructed by the British colonial authorities as it
wrestled to manage violence between religious, ethnic and disparate groups in its colonies,
particularly Africa and South Asia, in early 20th century. The frequency of communal violence
in South Asia increased after the first partition of Bengal in 1905, where segregation, unequal
political and economic rights were imposed on Hindus and Muslims by Lord Curzon, based on
religion. The colonial rule was viewed by each side as favouring the other side, resulting in a
wave of communal riots and 1911 reversal of Bengal partition and its re-unification.1
In 1919, after British General Dyer ordered his soldiers to fire on unarmed protestors
inside a compound in Amritsar, killing 380 civilians, communal violence followed in
India against British settlements.
There were hundreds of incidents of communal violence between 1905 and 1947,
many related to religious, political, sovereignty questions; including partition of India along
religious lines into East Pakistan, West Pakistan and India. The 1946 to 1947 period saw some of

1
Valerian Rodrigues, The Essential Writings of B. R. Ambedkar (Oxford University Press, 2004, New Delhi).
the worst communal violence of the 20th century, where waves of riots and violence killed
between 1,00,000 and a million people, from Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Jain religions,
particularly in cities and towns near the modern borders of India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh.
Examples of these communal violence include the so-called Direct- Action Day, Noakhali Riots
and the Partition Riots in Rawalpindi.
Secularism is the backbone of the Indian Constitution and India is a land of many
religions. However, one can witness frequent communal conflicts between various religious
groups. In a multi-religious society like India, there are many instances of serious communal
violence two of such horrific communal riots have been the 1984 Sikh riots and the 2002
Gujarat (Godhra) riots.
India faced communal violence almost every year after partition. But not a single
government could stop it. Each time, political parties used to blame each other but could not give
any solution to stop the communal violence. For the occurrence of communal violence, secular
parties blame the communal parties and communal parties blame the double policy of secular
parties; however, every time, only innocent people became the victims of communal violence
and not the politicians.
Today, India's one of the major and alarming problems is prevalence of communal riots,
which is the most visible sign of communal antagonism and animosity and has become an
integral feature of our country. It occurs very frequently and has become a major challenge
before the Indian political system. The picture even after 65 years of our independence is tragic
indeed.
Communal violence occurs because there is a development of communal ideology in the
society. The victims of communal ideology attack the life and property of antagonistic
communal groups. They are misdirected to avenge their miseries by attacking displaced targets.
The anti-social elements participate in and prolong communal violence. The vested interests
patronize anti-social elements. They also encourage and legitimize the acts of anti-social
elements by identifying these acts to be serving community interests. Unfortunately, communal
violence continues to take place in many parts of the country with regular frequency,
particularly in Northern and Western parts of the country.
The failure of criminal justice system in general, while dealing with the cases arising out
of communal situation has also contributed towards this recurring phenomenon. Not only
communal groups, organizations or parties are responsible in aggravating communalism and
communal violence in the country but some other so-called secular groups, organizations or
parties may also be blamed in promoting the problem. Besides national or international factors,
local factors also play an important role in worsening the communal situation. Both religious as
well as secular leaders try to take advantage for their own political and non-political ends.
Research Methodology
Aims and Objectives
In India, the problem of communal violence is now assuming dangerous proportion. It is a
crucial problem our society is facing since long. The core objective of the present study is to
examine the various central laws dealing with communal violence and punishment provided for
the culprits of such violence who threaten the secular fabric, unity, integrity and internal
security of our nation. The effective enforcement of relevant laws on the subject has to be
ensured.
In pursuance of the major thrust of our study, as discussed above, various other objectives
include:
 To understand what is communalism and communal violence.
 To trace the origin and growth of the problem of communal violence. To identify various
causes responsible for communal violence.
 To analyses various laws dealing with communal violence.
 To analyse the provisions of proposed Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to
Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011. To assess the role of various law enforcement
agencies and highlight their accountability in dealing with the problem of communal
violence.
 To analyses the role of police force in communal riots based on various inquiry reports.
 To examine the role of media during and after communal violence.
 To find out effective preventive measures for the prevention and control of communal
violence.
 And finally to come out with recommendations and suggestions for the prevention and
control of communal violence.
Hypothesis
In the present study, the researcher has made certain hypothesis according to the various
dimensions of communal violence. In the present study it is felt that:
➢ Communal conflict among the communities has its roots in social structure.
➢ Communal violence is a product of multiple factors.
➢ Communal violence occurs frequently causing lot of hardships to human beings.
➢ The role of police forces is always in question after every communal riot.
During communal violence, media plays an important role and very often, sustain the violence
for a longer period and often aggravate the communal situation.

Sources of Data
For the purpose of carrying on the present study a lot of literature has been referred to and relied
upon. This literature for the sake of convenience may be classified into the primary source and
the secondary source.
The views expressed by important personalities of India on the problem of practice of
Untouchability and evils of Atrocities.
i) The various Articles of the Constitution of India, 1950 ii) The judgments delivered by the
Supreme Court of India and other High Courts reported in different Law Journals like Supreme
Court Cases, All India Reporter, Criminal Law Journal and Crimes. iii) Articles written by
Eminent Jurists, Learned Writers, Journalists published in Law Journals. Recent case Law was
analysed from the reported as well as unreported judgments.

Limitation to the study

The Present Research is confined to a time limit of two weeks. The research conations both
doctrinal and non-doctrinal works. The researchers has done his best to write exhaustive data
regarding the topic of research.

GENESIS OF COMMUNAL VIOLENCE

In India, communal violence have created huge problem since long. Communal violence or
communal clashes are behavioural manifestation of communalism. Communal violence or anti-
minority violence has been a recurring feature in the history of this country. The major form of
communal violence in India has been seen with respect of the two communities, i.e., Hindus and
Muslims. In India, communal violence has been witnessed because of religion, caste, language,
regions, etc. Whatever may be the root cause, the result is always loss of life and property.2
In India, communalism is in the form of fascism. Communalism is mainly born out of
misuse of religious sentiments of one's community. In India, the problem of communalism is of
political origin largely. Communalism explodes in the shape of communal violence in almost all
parts of the country. Today, communalism has become a menace to the unity of the Indian
people as revealed in many states. Now it has become a nation-wide problem.
The Indian society has witnessed the Sikh massacre in 1984 after the assassination of
Indira Gandhi, the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992, the Gujarat killings in 2002, destruction
of churches, rape of Christian nuns, and killing of priests. Minority communities are being
harassed and terrorized; Dalits and Tribes being converted and reconverted. These are inhuman
and barbaric manifestations of communal forces and a serious threat to secularism – a danger to
peaceful co-existence of Indians.

COMMUNAL VIOLENCE: MEANING

Communal violence includes and encompasses violent acts, which may be defined as crimes in
law, but there are many other acts not falling strictly under criminal activities. The devastating
effect of communal violence is much more dangerous and alarming than if it were simply a
riot/crime. The terms `communal violence' and `communal riots' have not been defined in the
Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1861 or Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973. The IPC merely
defines `unlawful assembly' (section 141) and `riot' (section 146). The definition of `riot' makes
every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of rioting.
Only those incidents of violence come under the purview of `rioting' that constitute
offence under the IPC. The police count as a `communal incident' any violent incident in which
the opposing parties happen to be members of the two communities, irrespective of the cause.
This provides scope for police discretion. In other words, communal violence means violence
against a group or an individual targeted because of a communal identity. The target
identification, in most of the cases, is guided by a strong belief that the interests of a community

2
Srimanjari, “Seminar on ‘Communalism in India’: A Report” 18(6/7) Social Scientist 49-72 (1990); available at:
https://doi.org/10.2307/3517479 (last retrieved on December 25, 2021).
having common religion could be protected and furthered by causing injuries to the members of
the other religious community.3
Communal violence can never be explained in terms of religion alone. The religious
factor is not the real one behind it, but it is exploited to suit one's own end. When religious
sentiments and cultural ethos are manipulated for selfish gains, the result is communal tension
or communal violence.
Violence may be divided into two broad categories:
1. Individual violence; and
2. Social violence.
`Individual violence' consists of heinous crime of murder and grievous hurt, wrongful
confinement and serious assaults. The public is tolerant with crime against property but crime of
violence generates fear, specially fear of strangers. The fear of strangers has affected social
order, mobility, mutual distrust and withdrawal and finally the quality of life.

FEATURES OF COMMUNAL VIOLENCE

The following may be the features of communal violence:
I. One group initiates the action. A swift violent reaction by the opposite group starts.
II. There is a chain reaction by both the groups and a large number of people are collected
and moved in the affected areas.
III. In a short time, the news of violence spreads and other retaliatory physical assaults and
attacks on property follow in other areas unconnected with the incident.

In this way, communal violence has a psychological explanation too. Communal violence is
borne out of emotion, hatred, hostility and prejudice. It may be oral and physical violence against
one religious group by another with intention to physically harm or destroy the property or both
as they belong to a particular religious group.

COMMUNAL VIOLENCE & STATE MACHINERY

Communalism has also made serious inroads into the state machineries. Many officials openly
compromise with supported communal forces and remain largely ineffective in the presence of

3
R. S. Sharma, “Communalism and India’s Past” 18(1/2) Social Scientist 3-12 (1990); available at:
https://doi.org/10.2307/3517323 (last visited on December 17, 2021).
operational realities. The increasing communalization of state machineries has been causing
concern to all democratic minded citizens.
The inactivity of state machinery in dealing with communal violence has been largely
observed in the massacre of over 4,000 Muslims in Nellie (Assam) in February 1983; the
massacre of more than 3,000 Sikhs after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 30, 1984;
and brutal killing of more than 2,000 Muslims in Gujarat after the Godhra incident in 2002.
Many officials of state machinery betray communal tendencies and encourage communal forces
directly or indirectly. For examples, the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in Moradabad
(1980) and Meerut riots (1987) and the police in Bombay [now, Mumbai (1992-93] and Gujarat
riots (2002), directly participated against the minorities.4
The evolving political culture and “selective performance” of government agencies has
further aggravated the problem. If Chief Ministers and the Governors had shown strong resolve
in throttling the genocide in Bhagalpur, Meerut, Ahmedabad, etc., it would certainly have had a
strong impact on the psyche of the police force and the administrative agencies.5
The violation of institutional neutrality is quite apparent at not only the level of
the
Central Government but also State Government, municipal, district and sub-division
levels. Discrimination is perpetrated and religious hatred is practiced not only by various
religious communities against each other but also by the state through its agencies. Almost all
religious communities have experienced discrimination in various forms from certain sections of
the Hindu majority. The Report of the “Special Rapporteur of the UN Declaration on the
Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief
(1981)” confirms it.6
The inactivity of state dealing with communal violence has played a major role in the
spread of communal riots in the country. The state machinery has been growing lax in their
treatment of communal riots. The states alone possess the instruments in successfully counter
the communal violence.

4
Communalism (South Asia), available at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communalism_(South_Asia) (last
browsed on December 12, 2021).
5
Arshi Khan, “Police Prejudice Against the Muslims” in A. A. Engineer & A. S. Narang (eds.), Minorities and
Police in India 151 (Manohar Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi, 2006).
6
Id. at 151-152.
 LEGISLATIVE & JUDICIAL ENACTMENTS
TO STOP COMMUNALISM

There are various legal provisions relating to communal violence as contained in general and
special laws on the subject; e.g., The Indian Penal Code, 1860; The Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973; The Police Act, 1861; The Arms Act, 1959; The Explosives Act, 1884; The Explosive
Substances Act, 1908; The National Security Act, 1980; The Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act, 1967; The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984; The Places of Worship
(Special Provisions) Act, 1991; The Press Council Act, 1978; The Prevention of Seditious
Meetings Act, 1911; The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955; The Religious Institutions
(Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988; The Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989; and many various constitutional & miscellaneous provisions.
We have adequate legal provisions relating to communal violence to prevent and control
communal violence provided they are enforced timely, impartially and firmly. In this chapter we
will discuss various provisions of laws – preventive as well as punitive, constitutional provisions
and other miscellaneous provisions dealing with communal violence.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
The framers of Indian Constitution have taken plenty care to see that secularism finds a place of
honour in the Constitution.7

a) The Preamble to the Constitution of India

India is a secular county securing justice, equality and fraternity. India is a secular State in the
sense that the State shall not make any discrimination whatsoever on the grounds of religion or
community against a person professing any particular form of religious faith. 8
The secular
nature of India is one of the basic structures of the Constitution as held in Kesavananda
Bharati’s case.9 The FRs rights relating to the present study may be summarised as under:

b) Article 15

7
A. K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, AIR 1950 SC 27 at 93.
8
Bhagwati, J., in Menaka Gandhi v. Union of India, (1978) 1 SCC 248: AIR 1978 SC 597, 620.
9
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461.
 Article 15 prohibits certain classifications and expressly prohibits discrimination against any
citizen on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth. 10

c) Article 21
It guarantees right to life and personal liberty, thus, the State is under duty to protect all its
citizens from any kind of violence against them.11

d) Article 25
This asserts that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely
profess, practice, and propagate any religion subject to public order, morality and health.

PREVENTIVE LEGISLATIONS
The object of every law is to prevent the commission of crime. For the prevention of communal
violence, a number of preventive provisions available under different Acts are:

a) The Indian Penal Code, 1860 12

The following sections of the IPC are significant for the safety & protection – from communal
disturbance – of the society:
 Mistake of Fact (ss. 7613 & 7914) The two sections provide protection from conviction to persons
who are bound or justified by law in doing a particular act, but due to mistake of fact, in good
faith, committed an offence. Private persons acting under ss. 38, 43, 72 & 73 of the CrPC 15 are
also protected under s. 79 of the IPC.
 Right of Private Defence (ss. 96 to 106 of IPC) The right of private defence16 is provided against
crimes (that are common during communal violence) such as murder, grievous hurt, abduction,
rape, looting, arson, etc.17

b) The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973

10
S. Rao v. R. Telugudesam, AIR 1983 AP 96, 101.
11
Bhaba Kaatu v. Ram Chandra, 1987 Cr. L. Jour 1155 at 1157.
12
Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860).
13
Under s. 76, a person believes himself bound by law to do a thing and thereby feels that he is under legal
compulsion to do a thing.
14
While under s. 79 a person acts because he thinks that he is justified in doing so and thereby believes that there is
a legal justification for his action.
15
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (Act No. 2 of 1974).
16
The right of private defence is fundamentally a defensive right and it is available only when the situations clearly
justify it. It is exercised only to protect oneself or other(s), keeping away unlawful aggression.
17
Rev. Stainislaus v. State of MP, AIR 1977 SC 908.
For the prevention of communal disturbances, following sections of CrPC are relevant:
 Preventive Action by the Police (ss. 41 & 42) Any police officer may, without a warrant, arrest
any suspected person.
 Preventive Action by the Magistrate (s. 44) The Magistrate is competent to issue a warrant for
the arrest of any perpetrator, and the latter is presented before him & may be arrested.
 Dispersal of Unlawful Assemblies Where there's an unlawful assembly of five or more persons
likely to cause a disturbance of the public peace, such assembly is ordered to be dispersed. 18
 Removal of Public Nuisance This head deals the provisions relating to removal of “public
nuisances” for which the Magistrates are empowered to take suitable action removal thereof.
 Section 144 (Curfew) The order for imposing of “curfew” 19 is passed by a DM or SDM or any
EM as an ex parte order when there is a grave danger to life and property of individuals. During
grave emergency, ‘shoot at sight’ orders may also be passed if perpetrators violate the curfew and
indulge in violent activities.

CONCLUSION
The purpose of this assignment was to examine the various central laws (preventive as well as
punitive), constitutional provisions, rules, guidelines, etc., and every other issues related to
communal violence. Despite the secular provisions in the Constitution of India, the religious
bigotry often provided a context to politicians to create communal disturbances. There are
attempts to oppose the provisions of the Constitution regularly. Communal violence is the
negations of the basic fundamental rights (FRs) as safety and lives of citizens are in danger.

The Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 contain
various provisions for the maintenance of peace and public order and tranquillity in the society
and more than 33 percent of the operational provisions of the IPC relate to offence against
property. The CrPC has a number of sections to prevent communal situation and communal
violence and also contains drastic provisions for the dispersal of unlawful assemblies by force.
There are legislations which provide for preventing and suppressing provocative speeches,
writings and propaganda having intent to inciting communal feelings. Such activities are
punishable offences under ss. 153-A, 295-A, 298 & 505, IPC. But these provisions are rarely
used against the offenders. In spite of various provisions of laws in India and safeguards

18
Karam Singh v. Hardayal Singh, 1979 Cr. LJour 1211 at 1214.
19
An effective method of prevention and control of communal tension, violence, or riots.
provided in the Constitution of India, the rights of minorities stand insecure in India. This has
encouraged communal elements to victimize the minorities through major communal violence.20

The study reveals that there are various legal provisions (preventive as well as punitive) to deal
effectively with the threat of communal violence, but the administration fails to act promptly
and effectively. Despite the presence of various provisions for keeping peace and public
tranquillity in the CrPC, the provisions of the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, the Law of
Preventive Detention of Antisocial Elements and the provisions of the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act, 1967, the law enforcement personnel lack the will to implement these
provisions against the anti-social elements to prevent the occurrence of communal violence.
More than twenty inquiry commissions have studied major communal riots in the country and
the findings of the different commissions revealed serious flaws in the administrative system of
the state concerned. More importantly, the bias of the police has been highlighted. The police
play a blatantly partisan role during communal riots against minorities.21

The role of media in communalism has been to use it as an act of inciting violence and justifying
the same after the communal event. Once communal riot breaks out the media plays an
important role and often it is responsible to sustain the communal riot for a longer period. It is
shocking for our criminal justice system that culprits almost go scot-free. Only a few culprits of
communal violence of recent years have been convicted and punished. If the perpetrators of
communal violence go scot-free and unpunished then the democracy itself will be in danger.
The need, therefore, is to implement laws effectively and punish the culprits who create trouble
in the society.
RECOMMENDATIONS

The following suggestions may be forwarded to deal effectively with communal violence
as well as its prevention and for effective enforcement of laws:

 A Central law should be enacted to prevent any political party, which directly or indirectly
foments communal violence from contesting elections.
 A separate Central law should provide for appointment of Commission of Inquiry to fix
responsibility of defaulting law enforcement agencies.
20
Communalism, available at: https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper1/communalism (last accessed on
December 28, 2021).
21
Bilal Ahmad Kaloo v. State of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1997 SC 3483, (1997) CriLJ 4091 (SC).
 Act quickly upon the recommendations made by the various inquiry commissions.
 Banning of communal religious groups for their anti-communities activities.
 Creation of Special Anti-Riot Force to curb the communal violence with adequate
representation of minorities.
 Declare a national policy on route of religious processions which creates disturbance.
 Discrimination Commission should be appointed to take action against complaints of
discrimination based on religion.
 District administration should immediately take prompt legal action against inflammatory
statements, publications and speeches.
 Enact a Law on Prevention and Punishment of Crime of Genocide.
 Enact Social Diversity of Institutions Act, providing mandatory for institutions of law
enforcement and justice system to ensure adequate share of minorities.
 Expeditious prosecution for all persons and agencies including media persons and political
leaders for their hate speeches and writings punishable under law.

Bibliography

Valerian Rodrigues, The Essential Writings of B. R. Ambedkar (Oxford University Press, 2004,
New Delhi).
Arshi Khan, “Police Prejudice Against the Muslims” in A. A. Engineer & A. S. Narang (eds.),
Minorities and Police in India 151 (Manohar Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi, 2006).

Srimanjari, “Seminar on ‘Communalism in India’: A Report” 18(6/7) Social Scientist 49-72

(1990); available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/3517479 (last retrieved on December 25, 2021).
R. S. Sharma, “Communalism and India’s Past” 18(1/2) Social Scientist 3-12 (1990); available
at: https://doi.org/10.2307/3517323 (last visited on December 17, 2021).

Communalism, available at: https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper1/communalism (last

accessed on December 28, 2021).
Communalism (South Asia), available at:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communalism_(South_Asia) (last browsed on December 12,
2021).

Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860).

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (Act No. 2 of 1974).
Constitution of India.