On Thursday, National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma announced that she had been refused a one-day extension of her West Bengal visit which seeks to help women affected by the post-election violence in the state. The official reason for this refusal is the recently introduced partial lockdown measures in the state. This official reason was revealed by Rekha Sharma herself through a social media post.
Yesterday I extended my visit to Kolkata for a day but state Gov. Didn’t want me to, so they sent this message to me as if I was here for a pleasure trip. In this 2 days trip met many women, saw so much pain in their eyes and recorded horrible stories. #WestBengalViolence pic.twitter.com/joxqMwXSPx
— Rekha Sharma (@sharmarekha) May 6, 2021
The NCW chief had been on an official visit to Kolkata since May 5 in order to hear the grievances of women going through post-election violence. In order to better access the situation, the NCW chief had extended her visit for another day, however, this extension was quickly refused by the West Bengal TMC government. In their refusal for extension, the WB govt has stated that all concerned officials will be busy in Covid handling.
“Yesterday I extended my visit to Kolkata for a day but State Gov. didn’t want me to, so they sent this message to me as if I was here for a pleasure trip,” wrote Rekha Sharma. “In this 2 days trip met many women, saw so much pain in their eyes, and recorded horrible stories,” the NCW chief added, giving a plausible explanation as to why she would extend her official visit.
Bengal post-election violence and MHA response
Soon after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was found surpassing the BJP during the vote counting for the Vidhan Sabha elections, the goons of the ruling dispensation unleashed violence against their political opponents. Multiple videos have also come forward showing that a spate of looting, arson, and violence has erupted in the state, perpetrated by TMC goons.
Yesterday, MHA constituted a four-member fact-finding central team to assess the ground situation in the state and submit its report on post-poll violence in the next 48-72 hours to the Union Home Ministry. The step was taken after repeated reminders to the Mamata Banerjee government to submit a detailed report on the post-poll violence, which went unheard.
