New Delhi: The CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) on December 18 deplored the remarks made by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on December 17 that the Muslim community had not sufficiently condemned the Godhra massacre and accused him of "echoing" the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) line on the Gujarat incidents.

"Does the Prime Minister seriously believe that condemnation alone (which actually did take place) would have restrained the VHP-Bajrang Dal mobs from resorting to the carnage which took place?" the CPM Polit Bureau asked in a statement in New Delhi.

It said coming from the Prime Minister such a stance was equivalent to "condemning" the entire community for the crime committed by a few and will be seen as "justification" for the "mass killings" of minorities in the state.

Charging him with "echoing the RSS-VHP line on the Gujarat incidents", it said the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) cannot escape the responsibility to bring to justice all those who indulged in mass killings and serious crimes in the state during and after the Godhra incident.

PTI