NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM) condemned the recent incidents of violence against Muslims in different states, particularly after the Lok Sabha elections, in a statement issued by the party.
CPI(M) targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 'Hindutva communal forces,' stating that they would intensify their attempts at polarization with renewed vengeance.
A statement said that it "strongly" condemned the "vicious communal assault" on Muslims. The statement mentioned at least six such incidents in Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh.
The statement also mentioned one incident from Vadodara in Gujarat where people belonging to the Hindu community protested against the allotment of a flat to a Muslim woman in a low-income group housing complex under the Chief Minister’s Housing Scheme.
“The Polit Bureau of the CPIM condemns the spate of attacks against members of the Muslim community in various parts of the country in the period since the election results were announced… Such sharpening of communal assaults following the setbacks suffered by the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections highlight the fact that the BJP and the Hindutva communal forces will intensify their attempts at polarization with renewed vengeance,” read the statement.
In Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur, three Muslim men transporting bullocks were branded as cow smugglers and killed by so-called cow vigilantes earlier this month, and in UP’s Aligarh, a Muslim man was beaten to death on allegations of theft, it stated.
It also talked about the demolition of 11 houses of Muslims in Mandala (Madhya Pradesh) within 24 hours after alleged reports of “beef” being recovered from their refrigerators.
The party further called upon all its units to remain vigilant against such unscrupulous manoeuvres by the BJP and other communal outfits. “Units throughout the country should organize protest actions immediately against the vicious attempts at vitiating the atmosphere and seeking to divert the attention of the people,” the CPIM statement said.
The party also mentioned an incident from Akbarnagar, a predominantly Muslim area, where the homes of over a thousand families were bulldozed for the construction of the riverfront. It said that a shop of a Muslim was looted and vandalized in Himachal Pradesh’s Nahan after allegations that he had sacrificed a cow during Eid-al-Adha.
A case has also been registered against him for the alleged cow slaughter. All the other 16 Muslim shop owners in the town have been forced to flee following the incident, the CPIM’s statement claimed.
“In Delhi’s Sangam Vihar, there are reports of residents fleeing the area after provocative speeches made by members of Hindutva outfits, following the recovery of a cow carcass near a place of worship,” the party said.
