The CPIML condemns the heinous killing of Farook, a rationalist and atheist, by Muslim fundamentalists in Coimbatore. This killing comes as the latest in the spate of attacks and murders of rationalists in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. In India, Hindutva fundamentalist forces killed rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Prof Kalburgi and Comrade Govind Pansare just as Islamic fundamentalists killed Farook. Global imperialist and racist Islamophobia, Hindutva communalism and Islamic fundamentalism feed into each other. In a democracy every person must be free to embrace or advocate any belief, whether it is a religious faith or a belief in rationalism or atheism.
