‘Biggest challenge country facing is communalism'

March 03, 2012 01:43 pm | Updated 01:43 pm IST - MANGALORE:

Hafiz Mansoor Ali Khan, General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of India, speaking in Mangalore on Friday. Photo: R.Eswarraj

Hafiz Mansoor Ali Khan, General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of India, speaking in Mangalore on Friday. Photo: R.Eswarraj

The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) held a “People's Political Conference” here on Friday, drawing a large number of people from across the district.

General secretary of SDPI Hafiz Mansoor Ali Khan, MP of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (a political party in Tamil Nadu) Thoul Thirmavalavan, Karnataka State general secretary of Popular Front of India Riyaz Pasha, and PFI president E. Aboobakker addressed the gathering.

Mr. Khan, who hails from Rajastan, said that the biggest challenge to the country today was growing communalism.

Both secular and non-secular parties at the Central level, including the Bahujan Samaj Party, had failed to stem it.

He said whenever there were blasts in the country, innocent young Muslims were arrested and targeted. The Congress government was not allowing for a CBI inquiry into the Batla House encounter.

The saffron brigade had been unmasked all over the country for their role in the Samjhauta Express blasts, the Malegaon and Ajmer blasts, he alleged.

Another big problem the country faced was corruption. “When corruption is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is Karnataka,” Mr. Khan said.

The Reddy brothers, and former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had looted the country, but the Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani, who took out a rath yatra against corruption, could not see the faults in his own party, Mr. Khan alleged. Mr. Khan said that he SDPI was the only party which could say that it had not given ticket to tainted people to contest elections.

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