CPI(M) accuses Bhagwat of stoking communal tensions with Kashi-Mathura remark

The Left party said the RSS chief’s call for Muslims to “give away” the mosques disregards the 1991 law protecting religious sites and is aimed at diverting attention from the BJP’s failures.

New Delhi: The CPI(M) has condemned RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat's remark that Muslims should "give away" the mosques in Kashi and Mathura as disregard of the law of the land.

The party's Polit Bureau on Friday said that with his statement Bhagwat "attempted to reignite the Mathura and Kashi disputes."

"He demanded that Muslims 'give away' the mosques in these two places as a precondition for 'brotherhood'," the CPI(M) said

"After the demolition of the Babri Masjid, an act in which the RSS was involved, the Parliament passed a law prohibiting the alteration of any religious site that existed before 1947. According to this law, the status quo must be maintained in both Mathura and Kashi," the party said.

"Such demands are aimed at provoking communal passions, diverting public attention, and polarising society along religious lines," it added.

The CPI(M) alleged that the RSS chief was raking up divisive issues to shield the BJP government from public anger ahead of the upcoming elections.

"It has long been the practice of the RSS and its affiliated organisations to incite communal divisions whenever they seek to distract people from their worsening economic conditions," it said.

The Left party said that high US tariffs, a weakening economy, growing attacks on peasants and workers, and mounting proof of electoral malpractices and manipulation, had made the masses becoming disillusioned with the BJP-led government.

The CPI(M) also called upon the people of the country to "remain vigilant against the divisive policies of the RSS."

"The unity and integrity of India are of utmost importance and must be safeguarded at all costs," it said.

Bhagwat on Thursday said Ram temple was the only movement that the Sangh supported, and it will not back any other such campaign, including reclamations of Kashi and Mathura sites.

He, however, later said RSS volunteers were free to join such movements.