Sandeshkhali: NHRC Team Conducts On-Spot Inquires, BJP-TMC Political Standoff Escalates — Top Points

A National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team conducted on-spot inquiries in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali on Friday to investigate allegations of sexual abuse involving some TMC leaders. Fresh agitation erupted in the troubled village, where locals torched the property of accused Trinamool leaders and demonstrated against the delay in arresting the main accused, Shahjahan Sheikh.

The political showdown intensified over the Sandeshkhali issue after the Bengal police prevented women leaders of the BJP’s Bengal unit from visiting the region and subsequently detained them. The BJP alleged that Sheikh was receiving “secular protection,” while the TMC accused the BJP of foiling every effort to restore peace in Sandeshkhali.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at the residences of businessmen allegedly associated with Trinamool leader Shahjahan Sheikh and opposed his anticipatory bail plea in connection with the agency’s probe into an alleged ration distribution scam in West Bengal.

Here’s all that happened today in and around the violence-hit region of Saneshkhali. 

Top Points: 

• On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate issued its fourth summons to Sheikh in connection with his alleged involvement in the multi-crore ration scam, asking him to appear before its officers on February 29. He has skipped all the previous three summons.
• Women, carrying sticks and brooms, came out in large numbers in the Bermajur area of Sandeshkhali, demanding the return of forcefully grabbed land by Sheikh and his followers and the immediate arrest of the fugitive TMC leader. The newly-appointed ADG (South Bengal), Supratim Sarkar, rushed to the spot and told the agitating villagers that police had set up camps to listen to their complaints.
• “The District Magistrate is present at the spot. Please register your complaints at those camps, and we promise to look into them. Such agitations will only delay our investigations,” Sarkar told villagers, as reported by PTI.
• The prohibitive Section 144 of CrPC was imposed in at least two-gram panchayat areas of Sandeshkhali in the wake of the agitation, PTI reported citing police officials. Agitated villagers had, on Thursday, set ablaze a thatched structure adjacent to a fishery in the same area while venting their fury against Sheikh and his brother Sirajuddin.
• The NHRC team, comprising panel member Vijaya Bharathi Sayani and five officials, visited some villages, including Patrapara and Natunpara in the trouble-torn Sandeshkhali, situated about 100 km from Kolkata. The team spoke to the villagers and noted their statements. They also visited the Sandeshkhali police station and spoke to the officials there, PTI reported citing sources.
• The team reached Sandeshkhali via Dhamakhali ferry ghat in the morning, after crossing the river Kalagachi by boat. The National Human Rights Commission is the fourth Central panel to visit the restive area after the National Commission for Women, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
• Closer to Kolkata, BJP women leaders were stopped by the police from visiting the restive region, citing prohibitory orders and the ongoing board exams. The team, led by Locket Chatterjee and Agnimitra Paul, both general secretaries of the party’s state unit, was stopped at the Bhojerghat area in the North 24 Parganas mainland outside Sandeshkhali peripheries.
• “We were denied entry to Sandeshkhali by the police citing prohibitory orders. The state government is trying to hide the truth,” Paul claimed. The leaders got into a verbal spat with the police, following which they were whisked away in police vehicles.
• In New Delhi, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi hit out at the Trinamool Congress government for not allowing his party’s leaders to visit trouble-torn Sandeshkhali and not arresting Sheikh.
• Trivedi told reporters that Sheikh was being probed in a corruption case by the ED and was also accused of a violent attack on the agency’s officials. Such a “multi-dimension criminalisation” of politics and protection of the accused is unprecedented in Indian politics, he claimed.
• Trivedi told reporters that it was not only about the West Bengal government protecting him, but there was a particular mindset that believes in “secular protection” of some people irrespective of the crimes and atrocities they commit.
• While “secular parties” are keeping mum because they weigh the complaints of women against their vote-bank politics, even the self-proclaimed champions of women’s rights have maintained silence, he said.
• Attacking the BJP, senior TMC minister Chandrima Bhattacharya told reporters in Kolkata that the administration has full control over the situation and is diligently addressing every complaint and grievance of villagers.
• “The administration is in charge, with BDO and police officers working tirelessly. Every complaint is thoroughly examined and promptly addressed. However, whenever there is a semblance of normalcy, BJP leaders such as Sukanta Majumdar and Locket Chatterjee rush in to exacerbate the situation. “The BJP shows no concern for the women of Sandeshkhali; their only agenda seems to be to sow chaos for electoral gains,” she was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
• Facing criticism over the unrest, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is expected to address a rally in Sandeshkhali in the second week of March, PTI reported citing TMC sources.