The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on June 8, 2016. THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the nefarious designs of the BJP and the Hindutva communal forces who are once again seeking to raise communal tensions by utilising the so-called beef consumption in Bisara village in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh. The killing of Mohammad Akhlaq and the attack on his family is now sought to be diverted to the issue of cow slaughter and beef consumption. Utilising an alleged report of a forensic lab in Mathura that a piece of meat found, that too not in Akhlaq’s house, was beef, a meeting in the village has demanded that cases be registered against the family members of Akhlaq. A 20-day ultimatum has been given to the administration to act in the matter with the warning that failure to so do will lead to “public anger”. A minister in the Modi government, Sanjeev Balyan, who was implicated in cases connected with the Muzaffarnagar riots, has made a provocative statement demanding a probe to find out who all had consumed beef besides Akhlaq. Other BJP leaders have demanded that action be taken against Akhlaq’s family members. All these statements are being made with the intention of stoking communal tensions and is part of the wider game-plan of the BJP to create a communal polarisation in Uttar Pradesh before the assembly elections due next year. The Uttar Pradesh administration should file cases against Sanjeev Balyan and others for inciting communal hatred. The Uttar Pradesh state government should deal firmly with all those elements who are trying to incite communal passions and provoke violence. There should be no laxity in prosecuting all those accused in the Akhlaq murder case.