CPI-ML activists stage dharna on Babri demolition anniv

New Delhi, Dec 6 (UNI) Protestors led by the CPI-ML (New Democracy) today a staged sit-in at Parliament Street here, accusing the ''Indian political class'' of targeting the minorities for electoral gains and inciting religious fervour which manifested in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Babri Masjid demolition, the Gujarat massacre and the Nandigram violence.

Members of the All India Minorities Fundamental Rights Protection Committee also staged a dharna, condemning the demolition of the Babri Masjid on this day, 15 years ago. They were joined by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee(DSGMC) president Paramjit Singh Sarna. The protestors, assembled to mark the 15th anniversary of the Masjid's demolition, said the government must re-construct the mosque at the same place.

CPI-ML(ND) leader Dr Aparna alleged that the Congress was only a shade different from the BJP as far as adopting a communal approach for achieving political ends was concerned.

''The Congress, with the covert support of the Sangh Parivar during the 1980s, 'organised' the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and other cities as part of its strategy to mobilise Hindu votes.'' She claimed the Congress remained a ''mute spectator'' when the Babri Masjid was demolished and helped suppress the Srikrishna Commision report on the Mumbai riots.

''Though the BJP and its allies were in the forefront in the massacre of the minority community in Gujarat, the Congress also did not show the courage to fight against the perpetrators of the mahyem there,'' Dr Aparna added.

The activists alleged the CPI-M and the CPI always supported the state apparatus, ''albeit stealthily in unleashing state-sponsored terrorism, earlier in Punjab and now most vividly in Nandigram''.

The CPI-ML leaders, who observed 'anti-communal day' today, said minority bashing had eroded the secular credentials of the Indian state and called upon the democratic parties to fight against the growing communal forces in the ''corridors of power''.

UNI