Lok Sabha Question No. 4828 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-31
Subject: Committee to Protect Communal Harmony
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: D. Ravikumar

## COMMITTEE TO PROTECT COMMUNAL HARMONY

## 4828. SHRI RAVIKUMAR D.:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  has  any  proposal  to  set  up  committees  to  protect  communal harmony in every district of the country and if so, the details thereof; and

(b)  the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  protect  Muslim  women  from  harassment through apps like 'Sulli Deals' and 'Bulli Bai'?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

(a)  'Police'  and  'Public  Order'  are  State  subjects  under  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, including dealing with communal violence, rest with the respective State Governments. The State Governments are competent  to  deal  with  such  offences  under  the  extant  provisions  of  laws.  However,  the Ministry of Home Affairs issued Revised guidelines on Communal Harmony in 2008 to all States/UTs,  wherein the  following  Administrative  measures  were  suggested    in  connection with setting up committees to promote communal harmony:-

- (i) In communally sensitive towns and areas, Peace Committees/Quami Ekta Committees,  comprising  prominent  citizens,  community  leaders  and  representatives of  political  parties,  respectable  organisations,  etc.  should  be  set  up,  and  periodic contacts  with  them  should  be  maintained  by  the  concerned  officers  at  the  police station, sub-divisional and district levels.

(ii) Mohalla Committees, comprising members of all communities, should also be constituted for the proper and peaceful observances  of festivals.

(b)  The Government is committed to ensure that the internet in India is open, safe & trusted and accountable for all users. As internet expands and delivers many benefits for citizens, the Government is also aware of growing phenomena of users harms caused by misuse of some social  media/intermediaries  platforms  by  some  users  which  also  includes  crimes  against women and children caused as a consequence.

Two such Apps with derogatory and malafide intentions against women, which came to the notice of Government, were hosted on an open-source platform namely 'GitHub'. Both the

Apps allegedly picked up the profiles of the women from social media platforms, and Twitter was used to promote the alleged content.

'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of  India.  The  Law  Enforcement  Agencies  take  legal  action  as  per  provisions  of  applicable law.  In  the  instant  case,  the  Indian  Computer  Emergency  Response  Team  (CERT-In) coordinated  with  service  providers  and  provided  technical  information  to  law  enforcement agency to facilitate investigation.

Government has also taken the following steps to tackle cyber crime against women. These, inter alia include:

- (i)    There  are  adequate  legal  provisions  to  deal  with  digital  safety  of  persons  particularly women  and  children.  The  Information  Technology  (IT)  Act,  2000  has  adequate provisions  to  deal  with  prevalent  cyber  crimes  including  the  ones  related  to  women. Sections 66E, 67, and 67A of the Act provide for the punishment and fine for violation of  bodily  privacy and publishing or transmitting of obscene/sexually-explicit material in electronic form. Section 67B of the Act specifically provides stringent punishment for publishing, browsing or transmitting child pornography in electronic form.
- (ii)  The  Information  Technology  (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics  Code) Rules, 2021 notified under the IT Act particularly deals with citizen safety especially for  women and children.  The Rules require  that  the intermediaries  shall  observe  due diligence while discharging their duties and shall inform their users not to host, display, upload,  modify,  publish,  transmit,  update  or  share  any  information  that  is  harmful, defamatory,  obscene  and  invasive  of  another's  privacy  or  otherwise  unlawful  in  any manner whatsoever. The intermediary shall also adopt grievance redressal mechanism as prescribed in the Rules. Intermediaries are also expected to remove any information violative of any law in India as and when brought to their knowledge either through a court order or through a notice by an appropriate government or its authorised agency. The intermediary shall publish on its website the name of the Grievance Officer and his contact details to address the grievances received from users and affected individuals / organizations. Intermediaries are also expected to remove any unlawful content as and when brought to their knowledge either through a court order or through a notice by appropriate government or its agency.
- (iii)    Also  rule  3(2)(b)  of  these  Rules  provides  that  on  a  complaint  by  an  individual intermediary shall, within 24 hours, remove any content.

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