CPI(M) finds fault with Opposition parties not talking about anti-Muslim Dharam Sansad

The CPI(M) on Thursday found fault with a section of Opposition parties for not raising their voice against the anti-Muslim ‘Dharam Sansad’ in Haridwar due to the upcoming Assembly elections, saying they are unable to grasp the enormity of the danger posed by “fascistic Hindutva forces”.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘People’s Democracy’, the CPI(M) said the men and women in saffron who made the anti-Muslim speeches and call for violence to eliminate them were “not some fringe elements” but represented the “mainstream of the Hindutva forces, which include the RSS and the BJP”.

It also said that they have the “state patronage” and it was evident from a picture that emerged of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami touching the feet of one of the “inciters at the Dharam Sansad, Swami Prabodhananda”.

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The editorial said the Haridwar event was part of the “speeches and rhetoric” of the leaders of the RSS outfits and the BJP that are “taking place with greater frequency” and cited Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s “constant Muslim baiting speeches” to BJP MP Tejashwi Surya’s recent call to use mutts and temples to reconvert Muslims and Christians to Hinduism.

These are “not just ‘hate speeches’ in the realm of rhetoric but it is being translated daily into acts of violence and intimidation” of Muslims and Christians on the ground, it said.

However, the editorial said that it was “regrettable” that some of the secular opposition parties are “unable to grasp the enormity of the danger posed by the fascistic Hindutva forces”.

“Some issued statements of disapproval or condemnation while some others sought to avoid the issue given that elections are around the corner in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Not just condemnation in words but concerted united action is the need. When the BJP-ruled states are letting these forces run amok, it becomes the duty of the secular and democratic forces to unitedly rebuff and counter these forces,” it said.

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However, the CPI(M) did not specify which Opposition party or parties it was referring to.

The editorial said the speeches at the Dharam Sansad fall under the sedition as per the Supreme Court interpretation that the provision was applicable only when there is a call or incitement to violence.

"The evidence is all there in the public domain. The event had been live-streamed and videos of the speeches widely circulated. They all show speaker after speaker, calling for arms to be taken up, the massacre of Muslims, cleansing the villages off them and one speaker even saying that he would have shot (former) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a revolver if he had had the opportunity to do so,” it said.

“The speeches do not constitute just ‘hate speech’, but are an open incitement to violence and ethnic cleansing,” it added.

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