Patna: Liberation secretary general Dipankar Bhattacharya alleged that the Narendra Modi government’s “fear of truth” of the 2002 Gujarat riots was behind the ban on the BBC’s documentary and the surveys at its offices by the Income Tax department.
The Left leader made the remark on Wednesday while addressing a party rally organised on the theme ‘Loktantra Bachao Desh Bachao’ (save democracy, save the country) at the historic Gandhi Maidan here.
“Modi ji, his government and the BJP-RSS seem to be miffed at raking up of the communal carnage that took place 20 years ago. This led to the proscription of the documentary and, more recently, the IT raids. They have a fear of truth being known to the young generation who are not aware of what had happened in Gujarat back then.
“But, they should remember that children, to date, are taught about what happened in Hitler’s Germany so that people learn from the mistakes of the past. The Gujarat riots must not be forgotten till those who were guilty are thrown out of power,” said the CPI(ML) Liberation leader.
Later, talking to reporters, he also said that the treatment meted out to the internationally renowned broadcaster would “have an adverse impact on the image of the country at a time when the spotlight is on us because of the G20 presidency”.
At the rally, a political resolution was also passed by the party which now supports from outside the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The party said that since the BJP has ruled the state for long, its “fascist culture of governance” has deeply infested the system.
It suggested remedial measures like an immediate action to stop the “bulldozing of houses of Dalits without notice”, restoration of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act and release from jail of those arrested for violating prohibition as well as those booked under anti-terror laws for taking part in political movements.
Bhattacharya told reporters that the party will be holding a special convention on Saturday to strengthen “opposition unity” where dignitaries like the Bihar CM and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav have also been invited.
Replying to a query, he said, “Not having a face must not be construed as a weakness of the opposition. The BJP’s centralised form of leadership is dictatorial and must not be emulated.”.
At the rally, the Left leader defended the decision of his 12 MLAs strong party to refrain from joining the government.
“We did not win a single seat in the 2010 assembly polls. Ten years later, we fought 19 and won 12. Even our allies began saying that had we been given a few more seats to contest, we might have improved the tally of Mahagathbandhan and its then leader Tejashwi Yadav would have formed his own government,” he observed.
“But, we must remember that our party’s strength lies in the fact that we are able to rally around the people irrespective of electoral fortunes which tend to swing one way or the other. We cannot become like the BJP for whom winning elections is an end in itself,” he said.
He also lambasted the Modi government for “refusing to order an investigation” into the charges against Adani Group and alleged “they tend to think of themselves as emperors who expect the people to be silent in exchange for a few kilos of ration every month”.
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