Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, a villager told Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Satabdi Roy that the beneficiaries of West Bengal government schemes are chosen based on the ‘beauty’ of their wives.
The incident occurred on Saturday (6th April) in Rautara village in Birbhum district of West Bengal when the TMC MP had gone for her election campaign.
In a video that surfaced on social media, the man identified as Sheikh Saiful was heard saying, “Jar bou dekhta sundar se paba, jar bou dekhta sundar noi se pabe na. Amake boleche“
His statement’s loose translation goes as, “Only those people whose wives look beautiful will get the money from the government schemes. Those individuals who do not have beautiful wives will not receive any benefits. They had told me this clearly).
While speaking about the matter to ABP Ananda, BJP spokesperson Dhruba Saha lashed out at the Mamata-Banerjee government, “TMC is trying to deviate the mind of people from such real incidents. It is true that every village of West Bengal has now become Sandeshkhali.”
TMC downplays the statement of the villager
In the meantime, the Trinamool Congress has attempted to trivialise the testimony of villager Sheikh Saiful . Party leader Malay Mukherjee claimed, “Is it not possible to have a beautiful wife at home? Has it been said that those with ‘ugly wives’ will not get benefits from the government?”
“Both beautiful and ugly people will get money from government schemes. We need to see if the money is being misused. We cannot say with certainty that 100% good work has happened everywhere,” he brazened out.
The development comes months after Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his accomplices came under scanner over sexual violence against women in Sandeshkhali village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
Unrest in Sandeshkhali
The unrest in Sandeshkhali village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal brought into focus the atrocities committed against women by former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides Shibu Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar.
Multiple women have come forward to narrate instances of land grabbing, and sexual violence perpetrated against them by the trio. Forced by circumstances, they took matters into their own hands and gheraoed the police station.
The agitation led by women eventually led to the arrest of the 3 TMC goons. OpIndia had previously reported how the Trinamool Congress, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has left no stone unturned to trivialise the sexual violence committed against women in Sandeshkhali.
Besides Mamata Banerjee, TMC MLA Udayan Guha also attempted to downplay the sexual exploitation of women in Sandeshkhali as ‘eating pie (Pitha khaowa)’ and ‘mischief (Dushtami)’ on 29th February.
TMC spokesperson Jui Biswas also sought to deny sexual violence in Sandeshkhali by demanding ‘video footage of rapes’ as proof. Journalist’ Sagarika Ghose, who was recently rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat by the TMC, also trivialised the raging unrest in Sandeshkhali village as a ‘local land dispute.’
TMC Minister Partha Bhowmick had earlier tried to dismiss accusations of sexual violence by women of Sandeshkhali village as ‘fake.’ On 10th March, the actress turned TMC candidate from Hooghly, Rachna Banerjee, was seen casting aspersions on the sexual violence faced by women in Sandeshkhali.
Recently, a video of Kolkata Mayor and Trinamool Congress MLA Firham Hakim doing whataboutery on the plight of women of Sandeshkhali village had surfaced on social media. While mocking the ordeal of women, he said, “Now, you know that one ‘khali’ is grabbing all headlines. What ‘Khali’? Ah, Sandeshkhali. It is everywhere.”
