Amidst an uproar over the Sandeshkhali horror, another case of alleged harassment of women by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders in Dinhata has come to the fore. On Wednesday (21st February), the West Bengal unit of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) shared a video of a woman accusing TMC leader Udayan Guha, Deepak Bhattacharya and Bishu Dhar.
Taking to X the West Bengal BJP wrote, “Mamata Banerjee’s TMC regime has turned every village in Bengal into a den of horror, akin to #Sandeshkhali. Today, a gut-wrenching video from Dinhata surfaced, exposing the TMC’s heinous sexual exploitation of vulnerable women, led by the likes of Udyan Guha. In another appalling incident, TMC MLA Uttam Barik brazenly flaunted his despicable act of molesting a woman at a government event. Mamata’s regime thrives on this predatory conduct, stooping to unimaginable lows for political mileage, while Hindu women suffer.”
In the video, the woman says, “At around 12 am, Udyan Guha and his cronies called to the party office to make ‘pitha’. But I refused and questioned their absurdity of making pitha at midnight. Do they not respect us because we are women? Their fiancéce knows no bounds. I have been subjected to occasional harassment. I pleaded with folded hands, will they not let me live in peace? But they did not listen. Yesterday at around 4 o’clock the Panchayat and booth chairman came and instructed to me to attend tomorrow. But I refused saying that I have some dignity. I begged with folded hands. Their response was more violence.”
The woman seen in the video further alleged that the goons later arrived at her house and vandalised several items. “After I refused to comply, their cronies came to my doorstep at around 8 o’clock yesterday and wreaked havoc on my home. They vandalised everything from bikes, showcases, TV, window panes etc. Even in the presence of police their audacity only grew,” she said adding that this is not the first such atrocities have been perpetrated.
The woman said that in the Burihaat area, the TMC goons continue to harass countless women inflicting atrocities on them. “With the government in their pocket, they act with impunity. How do we survive such oppression? We are simple folks, day labourers! We don’t understand their political games. Then why do they torment us and not let us live in peace?” the woman said.
On Wednesday, BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya shared the said video and alleged that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has “weaponised this kind of predatory behaviour against Hindu women.”
“Mamata Banerjee and TMC leaders have made every village of Bengal a #Sandeshkhali. Listen to this woman from Dinhata (video posted by a local channel this morning), a constituency (in North Bengal) represented by Udyan Guha, another close aide of West Bengal CM. Sexual exploitation of poor women, at the hands of TMC leaders, is rampant in Bengal. The other day, Patashpur TMC MLA Uttam Barik, posted a picture of him, molesting a woman beneficiary in a WB Govt program. Imagine the audacity! Mamata Banerjee has weaponised this kind of predatory behaviour, to win elections. Hindu women be damned,” Malviya posted.
A Jagran report says the woman has filed a complaint at Sahebganj Police Station. Meanwhile, TMC has dismissed the allegations as baseless.
Recently, TMC MLA from Patashpur Assembly Uttam Barik had allegedly misbehaved with a woman at a program related to the distribution of government scheme benefits. He had shared a picture of the same to his Facebook profile along with other pictures from the same event. After outrage, the TMC leader deleted the objectionable picture from his Facebook profile.
BJP’s Amit Malviya had alleged that the TMC leader was exploiting women in lieu of government benefits. “Mamata Banerjee and TMC leaders have created a #Sandeshkhali in every corner of West Bengal. Her MLAs are exploiting poor women in lieu of government benefits. Here, TMC MLA Uttam Barik, who represents Patashpur Assembly, can be seen manhandling (molesting would be more like it) a woman, at a program, where he is distributing government benefits under various schemes. What is worse is that he has the audacity to post such pictures on his Facebook (posted 3 hours ago), as if to let other women in the area know, that they have to be prepared for such humiliation, if they expect government benefits,” Malviya posted on X on 19th February.
Sandeshkhali horror
On 8th February this year, hundreds of women in Sandeshkhali took to the streets to protest against land grabbing, non-payment of wages and sexual violence committed by Trinamool Congress goon Sheikh Shahjahan and his two aides Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar.
The women attacked Shahjahan’s illicitly obtained properties and set fire to a poultry farm owned by Shiba Prasad Hazra. They also surrounded the Sandeshkali police station and demanded the immediate arrest of the trio. The agitation in the village lasted for 3 days.
On Friday (17th February), the police arrested TMC leader Shibu Prasad Hazra over land grabbing and sexual exploitation of women in Sandeshkhali. The primary accused Sheikh Shahjahan, is still on the run from the law enforcement authorities.