New Delhi: The CPM has alleged that the recent incidents of violence across the country are "not sporadic communal riots" but “planned attacks” by right-wing outfits using the Hindu new year and Ram Navami processions to target the Muslim community.

In an edit in the latest edition of People's Democracy, the CPM mouthpiece, the party has referred to the violence between two religious communities across the country and said that this is a way to take the anti-Muslim campaign to a "new level".

"The month of April has seen a sharp escalation in the attacks on Muslims by the Hindutva forces. The RSS outfits like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have in a planned and organised manner utilised the Hindu new year on April 2 and the Ram Navami processions on April 10 to target the Muslim community.

"The modus operandi has been the same in various parts of the country - processions with arms are taken out and as they pass through Muslim localities, provocative slogans are raised outside the mosque and skirmishes engineered. This becomes the signal to attack Muslim shops and houses and resort to arson," the edit said.

It further said that these incidents of violence are not spontaneous communal riots or clashes and it became clear when such incidents occurred on April 10 in six states - Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Goa - where Ram Navami processions led to violence in nearly a dozen places in these states.

"Earlier, on April 2, the first attack in a Muslim locality took place in Karauli, Rajasthan as a result of a bike rally on Hindu new year day.

"The victims in all these places are mainly poor Muslims whose houses and shops were looted or destroyed. In all the BJP-ruled states, the police which did not intervene to stop such attacks later arrested the Muslims who were victims and those who tried to resist the attackers," the edit said.

The Left party also said that another round of attacks on Muslims occurred in four states, a week later, when Hanuman Jayanti processions were taken out on April 16.

It said that the same pattern of incidents occurred in Holagunda village in Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, Bhagwanpur in Roorkee in Uttarakhand and Jahangirpuri in Delhi.

The party said that bulldozers were sent to Jahangirpuri in Delhi, where the police are under the central government. In spite of the Supreme Court ordering that the status quo be maintained, the demolition of shops and houses continued for two hours, the party alleged.

"What these countrywide incidents in the past three weeks signify must be properly understood. These are not sporadic communal riots or conventional clashes which occur when some religious activities or groups collide. This is a pre-planned move to take the anti-Muslim campaign to a new level. There is every danger of local level pogroms being launched.”

The editorial further said that the Hindu outfits are being unleashed for divisive and nihilistic purposes.

"The nature of the beast confronting us is clear. It is a Hindutva juggernaut which employs vile tactics to establish its hegemony over society and its total domination over the minorities. This menace has to be squarely and determinedly fought by all those who do not want India to become a playground for the fascistic ideology of the RSS. The Left, which is uncompromising in its fight against Hindutva authoritarianism, must take the lead," it said. PTI