By IANS,
New Delhi : Demanding appropriate action against Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) for their role in instigating communal violence in Orissa, a five-member Left party delegation led by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Brinda Karat met President Pratibha Patil here Thursday.
The other Left party leaders included Gurudas Das Gupta and D.Raja of the Communist Party of India and Suresh Kurup, Tapan Sen (CPI-M) – all of whom visited Orissa separately.
A lengthy report on the situation prevalent in the state was given to Patil. “Both the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists have unleashed terror against minority Christians in the state. We urged the president to take appropriate action against the two organisations,” Karat told IANS.
“We also expressed concern over the attitude of the central government, which is mere spectator to the violence being played. It simply has not used Constitutional provisions to curb the violence in the state,” the CPI-M leader said.
Communal violence erupted in Orissa after Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati of the VHP and four of his followers were killed by unidentified gunmen at his ashram in Kandhamal district Aug 23.
The police said Maoists were responsible for the killing. But blaming Christians for the murders, thousands of Hindus attacked Christian homes and churches. The communal violence has claimed at least 16 lives.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also termed the violence as “highly unfortunate” and urged state authorities to take every possible step to bring back normalcy, provide protection to all communities and to bring the culprits to book.