On Tuesday, February 13, the West Bengal police working at the behest of CM Mamata Banerjee clashed with BJP workers who were trying to reach the SP’s office in Basirhat to protest against the systematic sexual assault of Hindu women in Sandeshkhali at the hands of Trinamool Congress (TMC) goons.
Notably, Sandeshkhali falls under the purview of the Basirhat police district.
According to reports, the West Bengal BJP on Monday announced that its leaders will reach the SP office on Tuesday in protest against the situation in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district. The Mamata Banerjee administration clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in the vicinity of the SP’s office in West Bengal’s Basirhat because of a proposed agitation programme by the BJP.
On Tuesday, when the BJP workers led by party state president Sukanta Majumdar were marching towards the Superintendent of Police office, the state police started raining sticks and batons on them. Tear gas shells were fired and water canons were used to disperse the crowd. Some media reports suggest that the protestors also retaliated by pelting stones. Some cops and several BJP karyakartas including several women supporters of the BJP and Sukanta Majumdar’s security personnel were injured in the skirmish.
Notably, on Monday (February 12) also the West Bengal police stopped Sukanta Majumdar and other BJP workers from visiting Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, where, for the last past one week, locals, mainly women, have hit the streets demanding the arrest of absconding TMC leader and Mamata Banerjee’s close aides Sheikh Shahjahan and two other TMC workers Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, believed to be close to Shahjahan.
The BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar took to X to inform about the West Bengal police excesses. He said that he and his men took a train to Sandeshkhali to meet the victims when the police stopped them from reaching by road.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee’s government suffered a major setback as the Calcutta High Court repealed the Section 144 order in Sandeshkhali. On Monday, several BJP leaders including Union Minister Smriti Irani lambasted Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Sandeshkhali issue. She asserted that the Bengal CM is known for the genocide of Hindus and that she will now allow the rape of married women in the Trinamool Congress office.
“Mamata Banerjee is known for the genocide of Hindus. She will now allow her men to pick young married Hindu women to be raped in the TMC office… Who is this man who has been charged by the women of Sandeshkhali of the mass rape of Bengali Hindu women?… Till now everybody has been wondering who Sheikh Shahjahan is. Now, the question Mamata Banerjee has to answer is – where is Sheikh Shahjahan?,” she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Since February 8, several areas in Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal have been on the boil as locals, mainly women, have hit the streets demanding the arrest of absconding TMC leader and Mamata Banerjee’s close aides Sheikh Shahjahan and two other TMC workers Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, believed to be close to Shahjahan. Hundreds of women residents of Sandeshkhali came out on the streets with brooms, sticks and farming tools and blocked the roads. They are demanding the arrest of Sheikh Shahjahan and his two aides Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, whom they have accused of making their lives miserable for quite some time, even from before the attack on the ED’s men.
Mamata Banerjee’s close aide, Sheikh Shahjahan is the alleged mastermind behind the attack on ED and CAPF personnel at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district on January 5 and has been on the run ever since.
Amid the ongoing violence in Sandeshkhali village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, several Hindu women have narrated their plight of exploitation at the hands of Trinamool Congress (TMC) goons.
While speaking to Republic Bangla on Saturday (10th February), a resident of Sandeshkhali recounted, “TMC workers would come to the village and pick out the ‘beautiful women.’ These men would hunt for young women and send diktat to their families to hand over the victims to them.”
“You may be the husband but you cannot exercise your right. They would take your wife away for nights at a stretch. They would not release the women from their captivity until they were ‘fully satisfied. They have 20-30 goons with them. They would come in bikes and exercise their writ in the village,” she emphasised.
OpIndia chronicled 12 video testimonies of Sandeshkhali villagers, particularly women, detailing the torture and sexual harassment meted out to them by Trinamool Congress goons.