The leaders of 13 Opposition parties on Saturday expressed deep concern over the recent incidents of communal violence and hate speech in the country and urged people to maintain peace and harmony. The leaders questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s failure to speak out against those who “propagate” hate.
In a joint statement, the leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK supremo M.K. Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, raised concern over “the manner in which issues relating to food, dress, faith, festivals and language are being deliberately used by the ruling establishment to polarise society”.
Claiming that there was a sinister pattern to the communal violence, the Opposition leaders demanded stringent punishment for the perpetrators of violence. They also expressed pain at the manner in which social media and the audio-visual platforms were “being misused with official patronage to spread hatred and prejudice”.
