Bengal To Bharat Mandapam: How BJP Is Keeping The Sandeshkhali Pot Boiling

On the day the main accused in the Sandeshkhali violence, TMC leader Shibu Hazra, was arrested after gang-rape charges were added to one of the cases where he was an accused, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh raised the issue of Sandeshkhali at the national level in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam.

Over the last week, the BJP has successfully kept the Sandeshkhali pot boiling. It was West Bengal BJP President Susanta Majumdar, who took a local train after being stopped from entering the village and sat on a dharna. He was detained and released later in the night. But instead of going back to Kolkata, he camped in a lodge in Taki overnight so that he could make a fresh attempt the next day. It proved to be an ugly face-off where the BJP alleged police brutality that resulted in Majumdar suffering a fall fainting. As a result, he had to be admitted to a hospital.

Next, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari took charge of leading the agitation. Adhikari was on his way to the restrictive area along with three other BJP MLAs when police stopped his vehicle at Rampur village near Sandeshkhali. He was accompanied by two women BJP legislators — Chandana Bauri and Tapasi Mondal.

After being stopped, Adhikari moved Calcutta High Court. The prayer was mentioned before the court of Justice Kaushik Chanda, who is likely to take up the matter for hearing on Monday, Adhikari’s advocate Rajdeep Majumdar said. He has sought direction from the state government to allow him to visit unrest-hit Sandeshkhali after he was prevented by West Bengal Police from going there for the second time on Thursday.

Meanwhile, BJP chief JP Nadda sent an all-woman high-level team to Sandeshkhali. But they, too, were stopped from entering Sandeshkhali. The BJP team, led by Union Minister of State for Education, Annapurna Devi, returned to Kolkata and met Governor CV Ananda Bose.

Meanwhile, Majumder, who was released from the hospital on Saturday evening, had to give the on the first day of BJP’s National Council Meet a miss. But he took a flight straight to Delhi where he will attend Day 2 of the BJP’s mega conclave.

On Day 1, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who moved the political resolution at the party’s National Council Meet, named Sandeshkhali calling it ‘tyranny’ and a ‘stain on civilised society’.

While praising the Bengal BJP for raising the issue in the face of intimidation, Singh said, “Whatever has happened in Sandeshkhali and the bravery with which our workers are fighting against this oppression and tyranny, I want to congratulate them. I consider such incidents to be a stain on the civilised society. This should be strongly condemned.”

The horror incident is also mentioned in the resolution that calls it ‘barbaric’ and ‘painful’. It also says, “The way the dignity of women was violated by her leaders and her party under the protection of a woman Chief Minister, that can not be a sign of a civilised society.”

Earlier, the Bengal Police rubbished charges of sexual assault in Sandeshkhali and threatened legal action calling it “willful misinformation”. However, with TMC strongman Shibu Hazra arrested on the charge of rape and the BJP mentioning the incident in its first resolution, the pot on Sandeshkhali continue to burn.

Now, all eyes will be on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s concluding remark in the BJP conclave on Sunday.

Opposition political parties, including the BJP, CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Congress, have been holding protests over alleged atrocities on women at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district for more than a week.

Even as Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan escaped arrest, since February 7, villagers spearheaded by local women have held violent protests against alleged harassment and exploitation by local TMC leaders.

Shahjahan is accused of numerous crimes ranging from money laundering to harassment. He is still absconding.