Anti-communalism Bill

• After fierce debate, anti-communal violence bill is dropped. Here's why.

  The government was forced today to abandon plans to introduce a controversial new bill in parliament that outlines how communal violence must be combatted. Most opposition parties including the BJP and the Left argued that the proposal atrophies the federal structure by encroaching upon the right of state governments to maintain law and order.

• Communal Violence Bill deferred in Rajya Sabha after uproar

  The Right and the Left united in Rajya Sabha today in their opposition to the Anti-Communal Violence Bill, forcing its deferment on the first day of the 12-day Parliament session.

• Anti-Communal, Telangana bills to be tabled in next session of Parliament: Sushilkumar Shinde

  The controversial Anti-Communal Violence Bill and the bill for creation of Telangana will be tabled in the next session of Parliament, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Thursday.

• Nitish Kumar supports the bill that Narendra Modi calls a 'recipe for disaster'

  Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today supported the anti-communal violence Bill, but insisted on a political dialogue with states before finalising it if the Congress-led UPA was serious about the matter and not bringing it on the eve of elections to derive political benefits.

• Anti-communal violence Bill cleared by Cabinet; likely to be introduced in Rajya Sabha

  The UPA government has decided to introduce the controversial Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill in the ongoing session of Parliament.

• Communal Violence Prevention Bill cleared by Cabinet

  After much delay, the controversial Communal Violence Prevention Bill was today cleared by the Union Cabinet after removal of certain provisions, reducing the role of the legislation in handling of riots and making it neutral between communities.

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik writes to PM opposing anti-communal violence Bill

  Strongly opposing the Prevention of Communal Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2013, in its present form, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today asked the Centre not to move it hastily and have wider consultations with the states.

• Narendra Modi urges chief ministers to oppose Communal Violence Bill

  Narendra Modi has written to Chief Ministers urging them to oppose the Centre's Bill to check communal violence, on a day the Prime Minister rebutted his criticism and asserted that the proposed law was not a "vote-catching gimmick."

• Reject anti-communal violence Bill, Narendra Modi writes to chief ministers

  Narendra Modi today said he has written to Chief Ministers urging them to oppose the Centre's Bill to check communal violence, on a day the Prime Minister rebutted his criticism and asserted that the proposed law was not a "vote-catching gimmick."

• Anti-communal violence Bill a recipe for disaster, timing suspicious: Narendra Modi to PM

  Narendra Modi has ripped into a proposed Bill to check communal violence - redrafted by the Centre after it was opposed by several states - and called it a "recipe for disaster" driven by vote-bank politics ahead of the national election, due by May.

• Anti-communal violence Bill caught in political battle ahead of Parliament's winter session

  The Centre has made major changes in a controversial Bill to check communal violence, which had been opposed by several states and the opposition as an attempt to infringe on the Constitutional rights of a state. But the redrafted Bill has failed to end the political divide ahead of the winter session of Parliament, with the BJP today accusing the ...

• Anti-communal violence Bill: Centre trying to polarise voters, says BJP

  A controversial Bill to check communal violence, which was redrafted after strong objections from several parties, may be introduced in the winter session of Parliament beginning Thursday. BJP leader Arun Jaitley today accused the government of trying to polarise voters by circulating the amended Bill among states, but not the Opposition.

• Anti-communal violence law back on Centre's agenda, BJP cries 'appeasement politics'

  A proposed law against communal violence, which has been in limbo for nearly 10 years due to lack of political support, has come back into focus after the Muzaffarnagar riots in which 50 people were killed and nearly 40,000 displaced. Sources say the Bill may be taken up in the next session of Parliament.

• BJP opposes anti-communal violence bill

  The BJP has labelled the draft of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, 2011 as a law fraught with dangerous consequences, saying the legislation would go against the federal rights of the states and hold only the majority community guilty of hate propaganda and targeted violence. In an article put on the party's website, Leader of...