POLITICAL PARTIES CONDEMN ATTACK ON CPI(M) HEADQUARTERS BY SANGH PARIVAR
Daya Varma
(Based on a report in the Hindu of March 10, 2008)
The attack by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activists on the national headquarters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPM] on March 9 has been condemned by several political leaders and intellectuals.
The attack by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activists on the national headquarters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPM] on March 9 when the Central Committee was holding its meeting has been roundly condemned by a number of political leaders. CPM General Secretary called the attack “premeditated”.
The Railway Minister Lalu Prasad called up senior party leaders of CPM and pledged to fight the fascist forces. Similarly, the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party chief, Chandrababu Naidu, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party president, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and leaders of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) have also condemned the attack”.
The Communist Party of India secretary D. Raja, who is in Bhubaneswar, spoke to Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury on the phone and condemned the incident. Congress president Sonia Gandhi also called Prakash Karat and expressed her condemnation of the attack. Congress spokesperson Veerappa Moily, in a statement, said: “We condemn the attack in the strongest possible term. The party demands that stern action be taken against whoever is guilty.”
Barring support from the Shiv Sena, the BJP stood isolated as it drew flak even from most of its partners in the National Democratic Alliance. Responding to a discussion in the Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the Centre could not order an independent probe as law and order was a State subject. Though the BJP tried to raise a similar demand in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee refused to allow it, insisting that all parties confine themselves to the attack on the CPI(M) headquarters.
In the meantime, academics and artistes condemned the attack on the Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Hyderabad by BJP-RSS activists on the night of March 10. Signatories included Teesta Setalvad, Amar Farooqui, Arjun Dev, Prabhat Patnaik, Utsa Patnaik, Jayati Ghosh, Badri Raina, D.N. Jha, C.P. Chandrasekhar, Prabir Purkayasta, Madhu Prasad, Indira Chandrasekhar, M.M.P. Singh, Irfan Habib, Shireen Moosvi, M.K. Raina and K.N. Panikkar.