Nitish calls for Central law against display of offensive tableaus

Patna,(BiharTimes): Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that there is a need to codify a Central law to ban display of offensive tableaus based on political satire over Minority vs. Majority issues.

Speaking at the National Integration Council meet in New Delhi on Monday he said that they were displayed in a religious procession in a Bihar town recently. “The event has been recorded and photographed to irrefutably prove that a religious occasion was being misused to stoke communal passions among the people. Serious communal clash erupted in the town shortly afterwards. The administration after great effort was able to nip the problem and a major riot was prevented,” he said.

He said his government has since put a ban on depiction of political themes through cartoons or tableaus in procession or 'pandals' on religious occasions.

Nitish said that the number, frequency and magnitude of religious processions are also generally increasing. “These are sometimes given innovative names like 'yatra' or 'parikrama', taken out anytime of the year, and over a larger area. This is unwarranted. Religion, which is largely a private affair practised inside closed premises of homes or places of worship, is more and more becoming occasions for public show of strength,” he added. 

The chief minister regretted that communal tension and violent conflict has recently re-surfaced in certain parts of the country. “If not stopped, trend may spread and develop into a pattern. At this juncture, it is imperative to reaffirm our commitment to the basic constitutional tenets of secularism, with security and protection to all sections of society. This has to be coupled with adequate provisions for development of the under privileged and marginalized.”

He said that the government of Bihar has decided to raise anti-riot battalions in each district of the state. But this will take some time. 

He sought more Central Armed Police like RAF and CRPF as several religious festivals are scheduled during the next few months.

The chief minister also highlighted the work done by his government for the safety, security and promotion of women as well as Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The State now have special Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Police Stations. One Dy. Superintendent of Police in each district has been named as Nodal Police Officer to monitor Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes atrocity cases from the stage of lodging of FIR to trial in courts. Serious cases of atrocities are monitored at the police headquarters level by an officer holding the rank of Inspector General of Police, he added. 

Earlier, Nitish and BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani greeted each other warmly at the venue. With the saffron party’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, absent from the meeting the bonhomie shown by the two set the tongues waging.