New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS): More than a dozen political parties Wednesday accused communal forces of creating tensions in the country and urged "the secular and democratic forces" to rebuff them.

A resolution passed at the Left-sponsored convention said it was necessary for "secular and democratic forces to unitedly counter the communal forces of all varieties and maintain people's unity".

Among those who attended the meeting were Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (JD-U), Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat.

The resolution said that "communal forces are once again seeking to raise communal issues and create communal tensions.

"In the light of the coming Lok Sabha elections, the communal campaign has been intensified.

"This has resulted in the outbreak of communal incidents in various parts of the country. The riots in Muzaffarnagar are the most glaring example," it said.

The convention called upon "the secular and democratic forces to strengthen their efforts among the people and mobilize them for rebuffing the communal forces, preserve communal amity, defend our composite culture and strengthen the unity of the people".

The resolution described India as a country of various religions, languages, castes and cultures, and said there was an underlying unity in the diversity.

"This unity of the people and the country is under threat from communal forces.

"While the people of India (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians and many others) fought together for independence, the communal ideology and communal organisations stayed away and instead sought to divide the people."