Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | India needs hate crimes law on lines of Scotland Published : Mar 17, 2021, 7:34 am IST Updated : Mar 17, 2021, 7:34 am IST Actually, modern Scotland is a liberal, secular and civilised nation which has not known any blasphemy prosecution for more than 175 years 'Through the passing of this landmark bill, Scotland’s Parliament has sent a strong and clear message to victims, perpetrators, communities and to the wider society that offences motivated by prejudice will be treated seriously and will not be tolerated', declared Scotland’s justice minister Humza Yousaf. (Image credit : Twitter/@ScotParl) India, with its increasingly assertive majoritarian culture, would benefit from an equivalent of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill that the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh’s Holyrood House passed last week by 82 votes to 32, following the previous day’s five-hour debate when legislators considered a raft of amendments. In a nutshell, the controversial new measure will extend protection to vulnerable groups and take a far stricter view of the offence of “stirring up hatred”.