Communal and sexual violence continue to increase, says the party

Over a dozen cases of c >ommunal violence have taken place since the Lok Sabha polls ended and “divisive” issues like abrogation of Article 370 granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir were being raised by the NDA government, CPI (M) said on Monday.

While the people are expecting resolution of “acute problems like price rise, unemployment, agrarian distress and increasing crimes against women will be addressed, the BJP-led government seems more interested in raising issues which are divisive”, party general secretary Prakash Karat told a press conference here.

Observing that the talk of abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution by a Minister has caused “serious apprehensions”, he said “this can only lead to more alienation amongst the people in Kashmir.”

“Nothing should be done that will undermine the special status accorded to Jammu & Kashmir which is a solemn commitment to the people at the time of the state’s accession to the Indian Union,” the CPI(M) leader said.

Since the end of the Lok Sabha elections, “there have been more than a dozen communal incidents across the country” in Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP, Karnataka and other places. A young Muslim IT professional was also killed by men belonging to the Hindu Rashtra Sena in Pune, he said.

“It seems the mood of triumphalism has led to communal incidents often targeting the minority community,” Mr. Karat said, adding that the party would work to protect the minority community while countering all forms of communalism.

Sexual assaults against women and children continue to increase, he said, adding there was lack of political will to take the necessary measures to curb such assaults like those in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

“There is also no respite from the growing attacks on women in West Bengal,” Mr. Karat said.

On the economic front, he said the government was also initiating moves to increase FDI entry in defence production and other sectors like insurance. “The CPI (M) is opposed to such steps.”

“There are also moves to grant environmental clearance to a large number of projects in the mining and power sectors which have serious implications for the environment and the rights of the tribal people in these areas,” he said and asked the government to desist from such steps “without taking into account the environmental factors and the rights of the tribal and local people”.