Amid the ongoing chaos and tension in Sandeshkhali village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, Bengali author Diptasya Jash on Sunday (11th February) revealed how the area had become the hotbed of illegal migration, smuggling and demographic change.
In a series of videos uploaded on X (formerly Twitter), Jash was heard saying, “These are the remote and core areas of Sundarbans. It is spread over both India and Bangladesh and separated by a ‘river border.'” He pointed out that the route is famous for the smuggling of cattle, gold and even women.
He added that due to the complicated nature of the terrain, the Indian government could not fence the area or deploy coast guards. “The Bangladeshi dacoits come to Sundarbans, loot the people and return back. This has been happening for almost 30- 40 years.”
I am creating this thread to explain the situation in Sandeshkhali. To tell you that it is not a political fight. It is a JIHAD against Hindus to make them slave in their own homeland.1@abhijitmajumder @promzzz @keyakahe pic.twitter.com/oLvSRQpsXC
— diptasya (@diptasya) February 11, 2024
Diptasya Jash said that there is a possibility that the absconding Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan is not an Indian citizen. Citing locals, he added that Shahjahan came to India from Bangladesh with his maternal uncle and occupied land in Sandeshkhali.
“Now, the situation is so grave that these areas are geographically in India, but demographically it has become almost Bangladesh”, the Bengali author informed. He added that the janjathis (tribals) constituted the majority population in the area till the 1980s but land reforms by the Left government facilitated the settlement of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
“So, what did these people who came from Bangladesh do? Either with money or by force, they started occupying the lands of the locals and the then Left regime was in their favour,” he continued. Jash said that before Sheikh Sajahan of the Trinamool Congress, two goons named Issa Lashkar and Mujid Master of the Left ruled Sandeshkhali.
He informed that through a systematic strategy, the leftist goons were able to acquire the area and force the original inhabitants to move to urban areas such as Kolkata in search of jobs.
“Nowadays, in a few blocks of Sundarbans, Hindus are the minority with less than 20 per cent population…When the Muslim population increased, they started occupying the land of Hindus,” Diptasya Jash continued.
While giving the example of Sheikh Sahajahan, the Bengali author stated, “He has occupied their farming land and pond forcefully. They (villagers) cannot go fishing in the river without paying him cut money.” He added how the indigenous people were not paid lease money after Sheikh Shahjahan and his men took their land.
“Another thing that has happened is the torture on the (Hindu) women. People will come and say that tonight you need to send your wife or your daughter to the party office meeting. Now nobody knows what meeting takes place at 10 o’clock or 12 o’clock. The lady has to stay there for the whole night and the next day if they wish they will return or they will take her,” he was heard narrating the plight of sexual violence.
— diptasya (@diptasya) February 11, 2024
Diptasya Jash informed that in the year 2000, Left Front goon Issa Lashkar had announced in Sonakhali village that no Hindu can perform their rituals without his permission.
“If you wanted to do a puja at home, then you had to get his permission. If you were getting married, first you need to send your wife to Isha Laskar or his men. They would keep her for one day/ week and only then you could take your wife back home,” he recounted.
“They used to come to the houses (of Hindus) and find the number of girls. Later, they would order the family to send their girls. And if they went to the police station, the police would never file a complaint against Isha Laskar,” he added.
Diptasya Jash said that Issa Lashkar burnt down an entire village and wiped out 15 members of a family for observing the Hindu ritual of ‘Jamai Shasti‘. He also narrated how the Left Front goon would take away the cattle of Hindus, slaughter them and destroy the livelihood of the Hindu community.
The Bengali author stated that Issa Lashkar was eventually assassinated for his actions and the Hindus in the village kicked out the illegal Bangladeshis from Sonakhali village.
— diptasya (@diptasya) February 11, 2024
Diptasya Jash emphasised, “Sheikh Shahjahan is just carrying out the legacy. And the government has just changed from the Left to the TMC. The TMC is systematically changing the demographic of the area,”
He said that once an illegal immigrant comes to West Bengal, the local TMC leader helps the individual get a ration card, voter card, Aadhar card and passport. He stated that only illegal Muslim immigrants get this facility since they serve as the permanent vote bank of the TMC.
The Bengali author pointed out that Sheikh Shahjahan is not evading the Enforcement Directorate summons over the ration card scam but for the illicit money he made by helping illegal immigrants fraudulently obtain Indian ID cards.
“This is why TMC government is not arresting him because then many things will open up if he gets into the hands of the NIA,” he added. Diptasya Jash lamented that Hindus are living in slave in their homeland and are facing similar exodus faced by Pandits in Kashmir Valley in the 1990s.
— diptasya (@diptasya) February 11, 2024
“After the 2019 election, this Sheikh Shahjahan killed seven people. Five bodies could not be found to date. One person, Pradeep Mandal, Sheikh Sajahan’s people shot him in his eyes at point-blank range. He died. No investigation has been done by the TMC government. No investigation. Sheikh Sajahan or any of his associates were never arrested. No action was taken against them. Media, they put it under the carpet very efficiently,” he was heard saying.
While seeking support for the protestors of Sandeshkhali, the Bengali author concluded, “So we need to stand with them. We need to give them backup. We need to be with them. We need to raise our voices in support of them. So it is a plea to all of you, please stand with the Hindus of Sandeshkhali.”
Violence in Sandeshkhali
Hundreds of women residents of Sandeshkhali took to the streets on Thursday (8th February) with brooms, sticks, and farming tools, and blocked the roads. They demanded the immediate arrest of TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his two aides Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar.
The women had accused the trio of making their lives miserable for quite some time. The tension intensified on Friday (9th February) after angry villagers, led by women, in and around the Sandeshkhali area of North 24 Parganas, attacked the properties of Sheikh Shahjahan including a poultry farm owned by Shahjahan’s close confidant and Trinamool Congress leader Shibu Hazra.
The locals said that the poultry farm was set up on a plot of land that the Trinamool Congress leader had forcefully usurped. They also said that the poultry farm had developed into a centre for several illicit operations.
Locals also stated several other instances where Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides had forcefully grabbed lands from poor villagers.
On Saturday (10th February), the local police imposed Section 144 in various areas in Sandeshkhali and also banned the use of the internet in 16 panchayats scattered over the two blocks of Sandeshkhali-I and Sandeshkhali-II.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Archana Majumdar has said that TMC members and the local police “jointly raided” the houses of protesting women and BJP workers. Majumdar said that the police even arrested and tortured them.
In a bid to pacify the angry villagers of Sandeshkhali, the TMC leadership suspended Uttam Sardar from the party for six years. The suspended TMC leader and Zilla Parishad member was subsequently arrested in the Sandeshkhali police station area.
In the meantime, the Mamata Banerjee-led-TMC government arrested a former CPI(M) MLA named Nirpada Sardar in connection to the case on Sunday (11th February).
The Communist party leader was taken from his residence in Tollygunge to the Babsdroni police station. Thereafter, he was transferred to the Basirhat police station in North 24 Parganas district.
Nirpada Sarkar was arrested under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120 B, 147, 148, 149, 379, 427,435, and 436. The family of the CPIM MLA, who won from the Sandeshkhali constituency in 2011, said that the arrest of Nirapada Sardar was made without any prior notice.
