On Friday (8th March), the wife of the BJP booth President was attacked in Altapur village in the Karandighi sub-division in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal.
In a video shared by the X (formerly Twitter) handle of ‘BJP West Bengal’, the victim was heard saying, “A mob of 300-400 Muslims landed at my house. I was talking to them through the window and pleading them to leave us alone.”
“They did not listen and broke the window and our door. They took away our belongings such as suitcase, almirah, TV, bed and even utensils for keeping rice.
“They also broke the idols of Goddess Durga and Goddess Manasha,” she narrated while breaking down in tears. “My son was attacked. They broke his leg. My daughter’s hand was fractured. They threw bricks at me. I was bleeding from my ears,” the victim recounted.
“They tore my clothes and removed everything. There was not a single Hindu. All of them were Muslims,” she emphasised.
The woman wept inconsolably and added, “My husband is BJP’s booth President. Party meetings are conducted at my home. One such meeting took place yesterday. Since the time my husband contested elections, we were being threatened.”
“I have nothing left. They destroyed everything. All of this happened because we support BJP…My husband has gone into hiding because of the fear of Muslims. They targeted me since he was not around,” she narrated.
While reacting to the disturbing incident, BJP MP from Hooghly Locket Chatterjee, tweeted, “Persecution of Hindus continues unabated in West Bengal, from Sandeshkhali to Karandighi. The Chief Minister consistently shifts blame onto Hindus. West Bengal residents await justice. #NoVoteToMamata”
On Saturday (9th March), BJP MLA Dr Ashok Kumar Lahiri met the victim at the hospital.
In a tweet, he informed, “Yesterday night (8th March) at around 1 o’clock, TMC-sponsored goons attacked the wife and family members of BJP booth President Rajkumar Das in Altapur in Karandighi Vidhan Sabha constituency.”
“Today, I met her (the wife of Rajkumar Das) at the Raihganj district hospital. I demand strict punishment for the culprits,” tweeted Dr Ashok Kumar Lahiri while sharing visuals from his hospital visit.
In the meantime, the BJP has shared a 2019 video of Mamata Banerjee, acknowledging that her politics is based on Muslim appeasement.
“Je goru dudh dei, tar lathi kheta hoi (We will have to tolerate the kick of the cash cow that gives us milk),” the West Bengal CM had infamously said.
The incident comes in the backdrop of sexual violence committed against women by Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides Uttar Sardar and Shibu Prasad Hazra in Sandeshkhali village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
Police deny communal angle
Four days after the incident, the Raiganj police claimed that there was no ‘communal angle’ in the case.
In a tweet on Tuesday (12th March), it said, “Efforts are being made from certain quarters to distort facts and spread disharmony about a recent incident in Uttar Dinajpur. Fact is, an altercation and scuffle between two neighbouring families over supply of irrigation water resulted in injuries on both sides.”
“There was no communal overtone whatsoever to the incident. Stern legal action is being initiated against those seeking to ignite communal passions through blatant falsehood,” the Raiganj police warned.