Amid the ongoing violence in Sandeshkhali village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, several Hindu women have narrated their plight of exploitation at the hands of Trinamool Congress (TMC) goons.
While speaking to Republic Bangla on Saturday (10th February), a resident of Sandeshkhali recounted, “TMC workers would come to the village and pick out the ‘beautiful women.’ These men would hunt for young women and send diktat to their families to hand over the victims to them.”
“You may be the husband but you cannot exercise your right. They would take your wife away for nights at a stretch. They would not release the women from their captivity until they are ‘fully satisfied. They have 20-30 goons with them. They would come in bikes and exercise their writ in the village,” she emphasised.
Another woman narrated, “I too have the same experience. They would forcibly take the women away to the party (TMC) office at night and free them only in the morning.”
At that point, the first woman intervened and told the Republic Bangla journalist, “You (the journalist) are a woman. You know what kind of meeting is conducted at the party office at night.”
One woman informed, “Their primary target is women. Why do we have to leave my husband and children and go with them?” Another woman lamented, “We are not safe until it is morning.”
The Background of the Controversy
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.
The primary accused Sheikh Shahjahan is still on the run from the law enforcement authorities.
