Prime Minister's Remarks on Godhra

Date: 
Wednesday, December 18, 2002

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

Condemnation of Prime Minister's Remarks on Godhra

Prime Minister Vajpayee has charged the Muslim community with not having sufficiently condemned the Godhra incident. Speaking at the BJP parliamentary meeting, he held the Muslim community accountable for the crime committed at Godhra. Coming from the Prime Minister of the country, such a stance is equivalent to condemning the entire community for the crime committed by a few. Worse still, it will be seen as a justification for the mass killings of the minorities which took place in Gujarat. Does the Prime Minister seriously believe that condemnation alone (which actually did take place) would have restrained the VHP-Bajrang Dal mobs from resorting to the carnage which took place?

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) condemns the Prime Minister's remarks echoing the RSS-VHP line on the Gujarat incidents. The BJP having been returned to office in Gujarat cannot escape the responsibility to bring to justice all those who indulged in mass killings and serious crimes in the state during and after the Godhra incident.