The Left parties have welcomed Tuesday's Supreme Court order to reopen over 2000 riots cases in Gujarat.
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"It is a welcome development. We are glad that the apex court's directive to the Gujarat government will go a long way in discouraging communal mischief by the likes of [Gujarat chief minister] Narendra Modi.
"We hope that the court's direction will be instrumental in ensuring that our nation's secular fabric is not perforated by fascist forces," Forward Bloc Rajya Sabha member Debarata Biswas said.
He hoped that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the communal forces, as represented by the Bharatiya Janata Party, are "exposed" in the eyes of the people for what they really are.
"Our party has always opposed communal forces and it is in the fitness of things that the SC directive to the Gujarat government has come. It is a good sign that our judiciary is alert to the activities of communal forces out to disrupt democracy," Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha member Nilotpal Basu said.
He said the 2004 General Election proved that the people of India had no faith in the politics of communalism.
"We are in favour of tackling communalism with an iron hand. Our people want to live in peace and communal amity and it is just as well that the honourable court's direction to the Gujarat government will put things in perspective," Basu said.
All India Congress Committee secretary Wasim Ahmed said he never had any doubt that the law would eventually catch up with the perpetrators of the Gujarat riots.
"The people of India have proved time and again that they are not enamoured of communal politics. Therefore, I am happy that the SC has taken cognisance of the Gujarat riots and directed the state government to take appropriate measures," he said.
Ahmed expressed happiness that the apex court will be monitoring the case every three months.
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