Calling the women of Sandeshkhali his parivar (family), Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of shielding the accused in the Sandeshkhali case and said that it is a “matter of shame.”
Addressing a women’s rally at Barasat, North 24 Parganas district, PM Modi said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was committed to the cause of women’s empowerment and safety.
Speaking at Barasat, PM Modi stated that the women of Bengal have been a beacon of hope and progress for the entire country. “The ‘Shakti Swaroopa’ women of the state have been leading the country in various fields. But the TMC rule has caused torture, shame, and harassment for women in the state. TMC government has neglected the Nari Shakti in this state and has been trying to shield the oppressors instead,” the PM stated.
बंगाल में TMC के राज में नारीशक्ति पर अत्याचार का घोर पाप हुआ है।
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 6, 2024
संदेशखाली में जो कुछ भी हुआ, उससे किसी का भी सिर शर्म से झुक जाएगा।
लेकिन यहां की TMC सरकार को, आपके दुख से कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता।
– प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi
पूरा वीडियो देखें : https://t.co/djnDXhQTEw… pic.twitter.com/kiXwtLlWRg
“Under TMC’s rule, the women of this land have been tortured. Whatever happened in Sandeshkhali will put anyone to shame but the TMC government does not care about your issues. TMC government is hell-bent on saving the perpetrator. Their acts were first condemned by the High Court and then the Supreme Court as well. TMC leaders have committed atrocities on the women of the state. Leaders of TMC are torturing the women from poor, Dalit, and Adivasis groups. TMC govt trusts its leaders more than it trusts the women of Bengal. TMC has full confidence in their leader but not in the women of West Bengal,” the Prime Minister said.
PM Modi further said that there is an eclipse in the name of TMC in Bengal adding that West Bengal CM is not allowing the development of this state to move forward.
“TMC government can never provide protection to women. Whereas, the BJP government has decided to award life imprisonment for heinous crimes like rape. For easy registration of women’s complaints, we have arranged for a ‘Women Helpine’, but the TMC government is not letting it operate in West Bengal. This TMC government can never work for the welfare of women,” he added.
The anger of women in Sandeshkhali will not be limited to Sandeshkhali alone, this anger and protest will spread in the entire state and will teach the TMC a lesson, the PM stated.
The Prime Minister further asserted that this huge program is proof of how BJP is making ‘Naari Shakti’ the power of ‘Viksit Bharat’.
“On 9th January, BJP started the ‘Shakti Vandan’ campaign across the country. During this, interactions with lakhs of self-help groups were done across the country and today, in West Bengal there is a huge program organised for members of the self-help groups,” he said.
Highlighting the inauguration of development projects in Kolkata, PM Modi said that modernizing the country’s public transport is a priority of the government.
“Before coming here, I was at a program in Kolkata where I inaugurated many development projects of the Government of India. Today, new routes connected to the Kolkata Metro, Pune Metro, Kochi Metro, Agra Metro and Namo Bharat trains have been expanded together. Before 2014, only 28 kilometres route of the Kolkata Metro was built and in the last 10 years, 31 kilometres route of the Kolkata Metro has been added. Modernizing the country’s public transport is a priority of the government of India,” PM Modi said.
Tension rose in Sandeshkhali after hundreds of women on the island came out on the streets against Shahjahan Sheikh, accusing him of perpetrating sexual abuse and other excesses on them along with his henchmen.
After weeks of no action, on February 29 Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested by West Bengal police after which West Bengal’s Basirhat Court remanded him to 10-day police custody.
PM Modi is on a three-day visit to states including Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar from March 4 to 6.
Visiting Barasat, PM Modi has also met the women victims of Sandeshkhali who have been protesting against the TMC leaders in their area, voicing their anguish after years of sexual exploitation, land grabbing and torture by the local leaders of the ruling party in Bengal.
BJP sources have mentioned that the PM met the victims ‘as a father figure’ and assured them that their plight will not go unheard and justice will be given to them.
( With inputs from ANI)
