CPM blames UP government for Aligarh violence

New Delhi, Apr 11 (UNI) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today demanded a high-level judicial inquiry into last week's communal violence in Aligarh that claimed six lives and blamed the Uttar Pradesh government for not acting seriously.

The role of the police at various levels needs to be investigated, the polit bureau of the CPI (M) said, adding if the police and the district authorities had firmly intervened, the violence would not have spread.

The situation in Aligarh continues to cause concern a week after the violence, a polit bureau statement said. The removal of key officials has not helped bring the situation under control, it added.

The party alleged that a police officer forced an illiterate woman to put her thumb impression on a blank paper so that the murder of her husband who was going to work was treated as a case of financial dispute.

Expressing sympathies to the bereaved families, the CPI (M) said a number of incidents of communal provocation and violence have occurred in Uttar Pradesh recently.

''The Uttar Pradesh government has not taken these incidents seriously and the administration has been lax in responding firmly to communal activities,'' the CPI (M) said.

The Mulayam Singh government should immediately take steps to check the activities of communal forces bent upon disturbing peace and harmony, the party said.

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