New Delhi: The CPI on Monday welcomed Supreme Court holding that appeal for vote on ground of religion amounts to "corrupt practice", but said the issue of caste and language needs to be addressed "carefully".
The party also wondered if the order can be taken as negation of the apex court’s earlier verdict that Hinduism is a "way of life".
Monday’s verdict also held that appeal for voting on the grounds of ‘race, caste, community or language’ too amounts to "corrupt practice".
"As far as religion is concerned, it (the fresh verdict) is positive. Religion and politics should remain separate. But the question is whether the judgment can be taken as negation of the earlier judgment on Hindutva being way of life.
"It should be taken as negation of the earlier judgment and nobody should use religion to polarise people for electoral gains," CPI national secretary D Raja said.
He said the issue of language and caste though needs to be addressed "carefully" because there are tribals, the Dalits and certain sections of society which are "socially discriminated, subjected to atrocities".
"In some cases, we raise the question of inclusion of languages in eighth schedule. So, Supreme Court (should) be clear when they refer to caste and language. That’s why it should be demarcated," he observed.
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