13 opposition leaders expressed concern over communal violence, questioned the ‘silence’ of the Prime Minister

13 Opposition leaders on Saturday expressed serious concern over the recent incidents of communal violence and hate speech in the country and appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony. Opposition leaders also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence” on these issues. In a joint statement, 13 opposition parties have said that they are upset that issues like food, dress, faith, festivals and language are being used by the ruling establishment to polarize society.

The statement was issued by 13 leaders including Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the opposition said, “We are shocked at the silence of the Prime Minister who failed to speak anything against such people, who are doing the work of spreading bigotry and provoking the society through their words and actions.” This silence is factual proof that such private armed mobs have official patronage. Expressing their joint resolve to unite and strengthen social harmony, the opposition leaders said, “We reiterate our resolve to fight the poisonous ideology which is trying to create division in our society.” “We appeal to all sections of people to maintain peace and not let the designs of such people succeed who want to deepen communal polarization,” the statement said. Making a joint appeal, he said, “We call upon all our party units across the country to work independently and jointly to maintain peace and harmony.” Significantly, on April 10, on the occasion of Ram Navami, reports of communal violence were reported from some parts of the country.

On the statement Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President MK Stalin, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM working president Hemant Soren, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, RJD president Tejashwi Yadav, Communist Party of India general secretary D. Raja, All India Forward Bloc general secretary Devvrat Biswas, Revolutionary Socialist Party general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya, IUML general secretary PK Kunhalikutty, Communist Party of India (ML)-Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya.

On the other hand, reacting to this, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the Congress and other opposition parties of doing ‘vulture politics’ over dead bodies and only want to disturb the harmony in the society.

The BJP issued a statement in this regard late night

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia compared the opposition’s attack on Prime Minister Modi to throwing mud at the sky. Bhatia questioned Congress President Sonia Gandhi over the Karauli violence in Rajasthan and alleged that due to her party’s politics of appeasement, action is not being taken against the rioters. He alleged that Rahul Gandhi is standing with the rioters and tries to instigate the situation.

It is to be known that during the processions taken out by the Hindutva organization on the occasion of Ram Navami on April 10, there were reports of communal violence in states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Apart from this, violence erupted in Jahangirpuri area of ​​the capital Delhi during one such procession taken out on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti on 16th April. So far 14 people have been arrested in this regard.