: CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat said the Narendra Modi government was not much concerned with border security, which is an issue being used by it to address its domestic constituency in Uttar Pradesh keeping the upcoming Assembly elections there in view.
A large number of countries in the region have felt that the issue of terrorism has not been sufficiently dealt with and some of them resolved to stay away from the ensuing SAARC summit as the response from Pakistan was very much supportive of the activities of forces fomenting trouble in India.
However, only dialogue and engagement would help in resolving the differences, she observed.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Ms. Karat said the BJP- led NDA government has politicised the issue (of surgical strikes) in U.P. and it was offering protection to criminal activities in the name of cow protection.
The BJP and RSS have unleashed the so-called ‘Gau Raksha Dals' in many States and the Hindutva forces were given a licence by the Modi government to attack Muslims and Dalits who were doing the social service of skinning dead animals.
“The actions of BJP and RSS are extremely harmful and damaging to the unity of Indian people,” she asserted, demanding that a ban be imposed on such organisations.
Triple talaq
Ms. Karat said these were issues raised by the BJP to divert the public attention from the slump in economic activity (decrease in manufacturing and a rise in unemployment) and people should be wary of the designs of the ruling dispensation. The CPI (M) said the practice of triple talaq should be dealt with separately and not linked with the Uniform Civil Code.
“The timing of the Law Commission’s opinion-gathering exercise (intended to prepare a detailed report on the Code) is suspect as it comes up when the Supreme Court is hearing an important petition on the triple talaq, which exists nowhere in the world, including the Muslim countries. We support the reforms in personal law being brought within the (Muslim) community and do not believe that ‘uniformity equals equality,” she observed.
She said there were many areas to be reformed even in the Hindu personal laws.
