New Delhi: The CPI(M) Politburo on Thursday condemned a “spate of attacks against members of the Muslim community” in various parts of the country since the announcement of Lok Sabha poll results, and called upon its state units to hold protests.
They mentioned a number of incidents where, they claimed, Muslims were targeted, including the recent one in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur, where three Muslim men transporting bullocks were killed allegedly by cow vigilantes.
“The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) 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,” the CPI(M) said.
“In Aligarh, a Muslim man was beaten to death on allegations of theft. In Mandala, Madhya Pradesh, eleven houses of Muslims were demolished within 24 hours after alleged reports of ‘beef’ being recovered from their refrigerators.
“In Lucknow’s Akbarnagar, a predominantly Muslim area, the homes of over a thousand families were bulldozed for the construction of the riverfront,” they said referring to the locality dominated by Muslims, which was demolished for being illegal.
Mentioning other incidents, they said that people belonging to the Hindu community in a neighbourhood in Gujarat’s Vadodara came out openly in protest against the allotment of a flat to a Muslim woman in in a low-income group housing complex under the Chief Minister’s Housing Scheme.
In Himachal Pradesh’s Nahan, they claimed, the shop belonging to a Muslim man was looted and vandalised 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 other 16 Muslim shop-owners in the town have been forced to flee following the incident,” they said.
In Delhi’s Sangam Vihar, the CPI(M) said, 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.
“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 polarisation with a renewed vengeance,” he said.
“The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) calls upon all its units to remain vigilant against such unscrupulous manoeuvres by the BJP and other communal outfits. Party 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,” they said.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Neha Khan | 
