NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP of using Operation Sindoor for political gain. The party said the Prime Minister’s speeches during the election campaign in Bihar and West Bengal clearly showed how the military operation was used to seek votes.
In a statement after the first meeting of its newly formed Central Committee, the CPM said it would hold a week-long campaign in June against terrorism and efforts to spread communal hatred, citing the Pahalgam terrorist attack.
CPM general secretary M A Baby said on Sunday that a high-level party delegation will visit Srinagar next week in response to the attack on tourists in Pahalgam.
The delegation, led by M A Baby, will visit Kashmir on June 10 and 11. Several party MPs will join the visit, including Amra Ram, K Radhakrishnan, Su Venkatesan, John Brittas, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, and A A Rahim.
The party criticised the central government for claiming normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the removal of the region’s special status. The CPM said this claim has been proven wrong by recent incidents and has resulted in major security failures.
The statement said those responsible for the Pahalgam attack have been identified but not yet caught. It said accountability must be fixed. “The first lesson in combating terrorism is to build people’s unity, strengthen necessary security measures, plug all loopholes and protect peoples’ lives,” the Committee said.
The party also raised questions about the way the ceasefire was announced on May 10 and opposed any involvement of the United States. “President (Donald) Trump has repeatedly asserted that the United States intervened to get both sides to agree to a ceasefire. There has been no effective rebuttal of this claim. The Central Committee of the CPI(M) strongly opposes any US intervention in this regard. Such external intervention in the resolution of issues between India and Pakistan goes against the political consensus in our country,” the statement said.
The CPM also criticised the government for not convening a special session of Parliament to discuss the terror attacks, even though the entire opposition had demanded it. “Instead of convening Parliament, the PM has gone around the country in an attempt to drum up jingoism and gain political mileage. The Government had declared that the operation was successful and that it had achieved its objectives. But the Prime Minister, in all his speeches, states that the operation has only been paused and not ended. By this, he intends to use this operation for his party’s political project,” the statement added.
The party said terrorism must be fought through diplomatic, political, and other efforts as well. “The new doctrine announced by the Prime Minister forecloses all these options. This approach will only fuel jingoism, strengthen extremist forces on both sides of the border, and further widen the communal divide,” the Central Committee said.
