In August, much before the India versus Bharat debate started, the Union government introduced bills to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act. Respectively, the names of the bills are the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill (BNS), 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Bill, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill (BS), 2023.
The bills triggered a debate on social media and some assumed that the government was slowly not only doing away with colonial British laws but also adding stringency to criminal laws and replacing 바카라Indian바카라 with 바카라Bharatiya바카라. Those who were supporting the bills called it a journey from India to Bharat.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah tabled the bills on August 11 in the Lok Sabha and stated that the current laws have a 바카라British colonial stamp바카라 on them and were not meant to protect the common people of India.
바카라These laws were made 160 years ago with the aim of creating an atmosphere in favor of the British authority in London. The foundation of these procedures was to protect the British, not the common people of India,바카라 said Shah.
The IPC was first enacted in 1860, the CrPC in 1882, and the Evidence Act in 1872.
Soon after the tabling of the bills, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin described them as an audacious attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government to tamper with the essence of India's diversity through a sweeping overhaul.
He said, 바카라Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill 바카라 reeks of linguistic imperialism바카라This is an affront to the very foundation of INDIA바카라s unity.바카라
In his social media post, Stalin said the BJP바카라s 바카라audacious bid to supplant our identity with Hindi will be opposed resolutely바카라.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Ghose says every law has an authentic English version and its Hindi version. The Hindi version of the IPC is called Bhartiya Dand Sanhita. Article 1 of the Constitution of India states the country as 바카라India, that is Bharat바카라. Its Hindi version reads as 바카라Bharat, arthath India바카라.
Ghose says, 바카라It shows that the Constitution and the legal system already recognise both these names 바카라 India and Bharat. It is the first time they are introducing legislation where the English version will be called 바카라Bharat바카라. It has been analysed that these new bills retain 70 per cent of the IPC and the CrPc. Therefore, it is a process of name-changing rather than game-changing.바카라
바카라If they believe that something as serious as decolonisation can be achieved by simply changing a name, then good for them. Decolonise,바카라 says Ghose sarcastically.
Naveed Mehmood Ahmad, Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, says he does not see how renaming a law can help in decolonising India바카라s criminal justice system
He says, 바카라The IPC was not colonial because it had a non-Hindi name. It was colonial because it saw Indians as subjects who were to be controlled and also punished harshly. It was colonial because it furthered a colonial agenda. The British could have used a Hindi name for the law and it would still be the same. So, as I have mentioned in my articles, decolonisation cannot happen through superficial name changes, as long as the criminal justice system over-criminalises and provides for excessive police powers.바카라
Ahmad says the Tamil Nadu CM Stalin may be right in placing these name changes in the larger 바카라Hindi imposition바카라 debate. 바카라Laws generally have an English title and a Hindi translation, but that doesn't seem to be the case here,바카라 says Ahmad.
In one of his recent articles, Naveed argues: 바카라Unfortunately, the colonial bits in the IPC, with all their underlying assumptions about Indians, remain in the proposed law. In the BNS, there is no move away from the harsh colonial penal policy that saw Indians as 바카라savages바카라.
바카라There has been no attempt at rationalisation of punishments. In fact, punishments have been increased, and the death penalty added for a few offences. Just like the colonial IPC, the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita uses wide and ambiguous provisions that have the potential to encourage abuse of police power. Considering all of this, the BNS actually does very little in the way of 바카라decolonisation바카라.바카라
