The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday condemned the attacks against the Muslim community across the country ever since the election results were announced on June 4. Listing out the events where Muslims were targeted, the party released a statement calling upon all its units to “remain vigilant against such unscrupulous manoeuvres by the BJP and other communal outfits.”
The CPI(M) also asked the party units in the country to protest against the “vicious attempts at vitiating the atmosphere and seeking to divert the attention of the people”.
“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 a renewed vengeance,” the statement added.
The statement begins with the incident in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur, where three Muslim men transporting bullocks were branded as cow-smugglers and killed by so-called cow-vigilantes. 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, homes of over a thousand families were bulldozed for the construction of the river front.
People belonging to the Hindu community in the neighbourhood have come out in open 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 Gujarat’s Vadodara.
In Himachal Pradesh’s Nahan, the shop of a Muslim 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 the other 16 Muslim shop-owners in the town have been forced to flee following the incident.
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.