Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, June 23: The Congress government in Karnataka has completely failed to rein in communal forces and has disappointed the public, alleged CPM state secretary Dr Prakash.
He was addressing a protest meeting organised by the CPM Dakshina Kannada district committee at Clock Tower in the city on June 23. He demanded a reinvestigation into the Kudupu group murder case and compensation for the victim’s family. He also insisted that then police commissioner Anupam Agrawal, who allegedly attempted to hush up the case, be investigated.
Further, he called for effective measures to curb communal forces, the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe murders driven by religious hatred and revenge over the past decade, and a judicial inquiry into all such incidents in the last three decades.
Dr Prakash said that even during the tenure of the current Congress government, the activities of communal outfits have only increased across the district. He criticised the government for ignoring CPM's earlier demands for strict action, which led to a spate of communal riots, murders, and retaliatory killings. He also held speaker U T Khader partly responsible for the current state of affairs.
Referring to the formation of a new special task force, he said it must function effectively and ensure that communal elements are not allowed to gain ground. “A SIT must be formed for a comprehensive probe into all such cases. Hindutva has nothing to do with Hinduism. Hindutva is a political ideology aimed at vote-bank politics, and it targets Muslims to achieve its political goals. Hindutva must be defeated collectively,” he asserted.
CPM Dakshina Kannada district secretary Muneer Katipalla said that in the last ten years, numerous communal and retaliatory murders have taken place in the region. He alleged that in most cases, the accused secure bail within a year and move about freely. “More than 30 such murders have occurred in the last three decades. Who provides political patronage to them? Who are the masterminds? Who are the political beneficiaries? These questions must be answered. The truth must come to light, and the state government must order a judicial probe headed by a sitting judge,” he demanded.
CPM state leaders K Yadava Shetty, Devi Mandya, and district leaders including Sunil Kumar Bajal, Krishnappa Konchadi, Sukumar Tokkottu, B M Bhatt, Sadashiva Das, Jayanti Shetty, Yogeesh Jappinamogaru, Prameela Shaktinagar, Ramani Moodbidri, Santosh Bajal, B K Imtiyaz, Vasanti Kuppepadavu, Manoj Vamanjoor, and Rafeeq Harekal, among others, participated in the protest.