The Opposition leaders have appealed to all sections of the people to ‘maintain peace and foil the sinister objective of those who wish to sharpen communal polarisation’
Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi: ANI
New Delhi: Opposition leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Hemant Soren, Tejashwi Yadav and others on Saturday issued a joint appeal to people to maintain peace and harmony and demanded stringent punishment for perpetrators of communal violence.
“We are extremely anguished at the manner in which issues related to food, dress, faith, festivals and language are being deliberately used by sections of the ruling establishment to polarize our society. We are extremely concerned with the growing incidents of hate speech in the country by people, who appear to have official patronage and against whom no meaningful and strong action is being taken,” the joint appeal said.
“We strongly condemn the recent outburst of communal violence witnessed across several states in the country. We are deeply concerned, as reports indicate that there is a sinister pattern in the areas where these incidents have occurred. Incendiary hate speeches preceded the aggressive armed religious processions unleashing communal violence. We are extremely pained at the manner in which social media and the audio-visual platforms are being misused with official patronage to spread hatred and prejudice,” it added.
The joint appeal has been undersigned by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, NCP president Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM executive president Hemant Soren, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja, All India Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas, Revolutionary Socialist Party general secretary Manoj Bhattacharya, IUML general secretary PK Kunhalikutty and Communist Party of India(ML)-Liberation general secretary Dipanker Bhattacharya.
Further questioning the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over these issues, the Opposition leaders stated, “We are shocked at the silence of the Prime Minister, who has failed to speak against the words and actions of those who propagate bigotry and those who, by their words and actions, incite and provoke our society. This silence is an eloquent testimony to the fact that such private armed mobs enjoy the luxury of official patronage.”
“We reiterate our collective resolve to work together to strengthen the bonds of social harmony that have defined and enriched India for centuries. We reiterate our commitment to combat and confront the poisonous ideologies which are attempting to entrench divisiveness in our society. We reiterate our firm conviction that our country will prosper only if it respects, accommodates and celebrates its many diversities in full measure,” the joint appeal read.
The Opposition leaders have appealed to all sections of the people to “maintain peace and foil the sinister objective of those who wish to sharpen communal polarisation. We call upon all our party units across the country to independently and jointly work for maintaining peace and harmony.”
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