Six Left-wing parties to observe 25th anniversary of Babri mosque demolition as 'Black Day'

Six Left parties will observe the 25th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6 as 'Black Day' all over the country.

The CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB, CPI(ML) and the SUCI(C) on Wednesday gave a call to all their units in the country to protest against the "wilful demolition of the Babri Masjid".

"The Left parties call upon all their units in the country to observe December 6 as a 'Black Day' and to strengthen in the current context the struggle against communal polarisation being patronised and encouraged by the central as well as many BJP-led state governments," the Left parties said in a statement.

The parties alleged that the "brazen act" of the demolition was accomplished under the "direct gaze of the authorities and law enforcing agencies under a Congress central government and a complicit BJP government in Uttar Pradesh".

"It remains the severest of attacks on the secular, democratic foundations of the modern republic," the statement says.

The Left parties have also accused the RSS and the BJP of patronising "private armies" that "are acting like a law unto themselves".

"The gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) of today are on a rampage, attacking dalits and Muslims over fabricated allegations of cow slaughter. Moral policing squads are prescribing what our youths should wear, eat, or whom they should befriend.

"Instead of upholding the law of the land and proscribing such private armies, senior BJP leaders, including ministers in the central and various state governments have openly endorsed, patronised, and promoted such private armies and rationalised or even celebrated their violent actions," the Left parties said.

On December 6, which is also the death anniversary of B R Ambedkar, the Left parties will "mount a campaign against the intensification of the assaults on Dalits across the country and on the secular democratic values of our Constitution by the communal forces".