Expressing concern over the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s ‘Ram Raj Rath Yatra’, which was flagged off on Wednesday in Ayodhya, the CPI(M) said it had the potential to trigger communal polarisation in the country.
The yatra intends to retrace the route of Lord Rama to Sri Lanka, as described in the Hindu epic Ramayana. The VHP has said that it aims, through this yatra, to administer a pledge to the people for the construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The Supreme Court is still hearing petitions on the status of the disputed site.
The yatra will pass through the BJP-ruled States of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, spending nearly a fortnight in Karnataka where Assembly elections are due.
It will then proceed via Kerala to reach Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.
“This yatra has an incendiary potential to sharpen communal polarisation in order to strengthen the communal Hindutva votebank for the RSS-BJP. There are grave implications of possibilities of communal tension, violence and mayhem,” the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said in a statement.
The party has called upon the Central and State governments to strengthen the law and order apparatus to ensure that communal peace is not disturbed.
