UP’s ordinances will entrench prejudice

The Uttar Pradesh government’s move to bring two new ordinances, with punitive prescriptions for “spitting on food” and “contaminating food with human waste”, is an instance of policy’s wilful capitulation to social media/messaging services’ amplification of blatantly communal posts. Mainlining the outrage against such rumoured incidents feeds into the narrative that these alleged acts are common and carried out by a particular community to target another and thus need specific legal provisions to curb.

This is not to say that such complaints don’t deserve the attention of law-keepers. Investigate by all means if they are credible and under existing penal provisions, such as extant food adulteration laws which are poorly implemented. But magnifying the allegations with specific legislation and political dog-whistles around these will only feed communal polarisation, more of which the state certainly doesn’t need. The provision of 10-year jail terms for such acts, as well as for failing to display food outlet employee/proprietor details, adds another dimension — facilitating targeted harassment and rent-seeking by administrative personnel. Given that death due to food adulteration carries a three-year jail term as per existing provisions, the ordinances not only provide for punishment disproportionate to the offence but also raise questions of legislative wisdom.

Legitimising unfounded claims in viral social media posts won’t serve the state’s interests. Institutionalising prejudice will create administrative challenges — by diverting capacity from pressing issues such as job creation, health, education, and infrastructure — even as communal wedges divide society further, with concomitant effects on harmony and law and order. The state, which is aspiring to re-emerge as an industrial and agriculture powerhouse, would do well to junk this plan.

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