Gujarat govt should disband cow protection committees: Prakash Karat

Attacking BJP over Una Dalits assault incident, CPI (M) on Thursday asked the Gujarat government to disband cow protection committees and crack down on rabid communal outfits purveying "anti-Dalit" and "anti-Muslim" sentiments.

"It is not enough for the state government to arrest culprits involved in the Una outrage. It must act to disband the cow protection committees and crack down on the rabid communal outfits which are purveying anti-Dalit and anti-Muslim sentiments," ex-CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said.

Karat made the remarks in the editorial of forthcoming issue of party mouthpiece 'People's Democracy'.

Likening the Una assault to the "barbaric" lynching of five Dalit men in Jhajjar in Haryana in 2012, Karat said attacks on Muslims and Dalits, who are engaged in the trade of cattle and leather, have taken place in parts of the country in recent months.

The committees, he claimed, conduct vigilante actions against Muslims and Dalits and cited killing of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri and hanging of two cattle traders in Jharkhand are two recent "shocking" examples in this regard.

The Marxist leader also said that the Gujarat incident has exposed "carefully-constructed Dalit prem" of BJP-RSS combine.

"The BJP central government had made a big show of observing the 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar. At the same time, the BJP government in Maharashtra has presided over the demolition of the historic building which had housed the office of Dr Ambedkar in Dadar, Mumbai," he said.