Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s press briefing was interrupted on Wednesday by two members of the Hindu Sena — a fringe right-wing group — who were protesting against an article criticising Major Leetul Gogoi’s actions in Kashmir.

The party workers caught them and handed over to the police. “We will not be cowed down by any attempts of Sangh’s goondagardi (hooliganism) to silence us. This is a battle for the soul of India, which we will win,” Yechury tweeted minutes after the incident.

Yechury was scheduled to brief the media on the conclusion of the CPM Polit Bureau’s two-day meeting at the party’s central office here, when the two men managed to sneak into the party’s office and began shouting slogans like ‘Hindu Sena zindabad’ and ‘CPM murdabad.’

“Two RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) miscreants tried to enter the CPM office in the guise of media to disrupt the press conference,” Yechury said.

Briefing continues
By the time they could shout a couple of slogans, they were rounded up and taken away by the CPM comrades and volunteers and the press conference continued as scheduled without any problem, he said.

“This is the type of the politics that the RSS plays. Without violence and terror, the RSS has never been able to increase its political influence. These tactics have been answered by the people of India in the past and will be answered again,” he added.

The CPM Polit Bureau issued a statement condemning the incident. “This is typical of the RSS methodology of seeking to browbeat and intimidate the Opposition. Such tactics will not be allowed to succeed,” the party tweeted.
DH News Service

Bomb hurled at BJP office in Kerala
The attempt by alleged Hindu Sena activists to heckle CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury in New Delhi triggered CPM protests in different parts of the state, dhns reports from Thiruvananthapuram.

In Thiruvananthapuram, two unidentified men hurled a petrol bomb at the BJP district committee office around 9 pm. Preliminary reports said the culprits had arrived at the location on a motorcycle. The BJP called for a 12-hour hartal in the district on Thursday to protest the attack.

Tension during the CPM protests was also reported from Kozhikode and Kottayam.