By IANS,
New Delhi : Condemning the attack on Christians in Karnataka “by the Bajrang Dal”, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Thursday accused the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre of remaining “a silent spectator” to the violence.
“The Manmohan Singh government has to answer the people why it is utterly failing to protect the security of minority communities mandated by the constitution,” the CPI-M politburo said in a statement.
Describing the violence and threats against the Christians as an assault on the constitution, the CPI-M said the senior central government functionaries had not even issued a statement on it.
The party accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka of “protecting the attackers”. Instead of arresting the culprits, the state government was threatening members of the Christian community, it said.
Bajrang Dal activists attacked Christian places of worship in Mangalore and in Ujire, Kolar and Chikmagalur in Dakshina Kannada district, the party said.
“It is shameful that the violence has continued for days, religious functionaries including nuns are being attacked, and churches and houses of prayer and idols sacred to the community are being broken,” the CPI-M said.
The CPI-M alleged that scores of people including women, who were protecting the churches, were brutally baton charged by the police.
In the wake of “the violence in Orissa and now in Karnataka by the Bajrang Dal” the central government should take immediate action against the rightwing Hindu organisation, the CPI-M said.