Sandeshkhali unrest: TMC questions timing of harassment complaints

Facing all-round criticism over the allegations of sexual harassment of women by absconding Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, the state's ruling party on Wednesday questioned the timing of levelling such allegations.

Raising this question, TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh also alleged that this "sudden outburst" of angst by the local women is actually part of a conspiracy hatched jointly by the BJP and the CPI(M).

According to Ghosh, even if it is accepted that the women were silent for so many years out of fear, why didn't the local CPI(M) and BJP leadership raise this issue earlier?

“Neither the members of the West Bengal Commission for Women, nor those from the National Commission for Women were able to get any specific complaint from any victim alleging sexual harassment. Hence, we believe that the allegations are nothing but part of negative propaganda to deliberately tarnish the image of the state government,” Ghosh said.

Women at Sandeshkhali took to the streets complaining of sexual harassment soon after Sheikh Shahjahan, the accused mastermind behind the attack on ED (Enforcement Directorate) and CAPF (Central Armed Police Force) personnel on 5 January, went underground.

Even when governor C.V. Ananda Bose visited Sandeshkhali earlier this week, several women were seen and heard on camera complaining to him about sexual harassment at the hands of Shahjahan and his associates.

Meanwhile, speaking to media persons on Wednesday, the inspector-general of police (IGP) of Barasat Range, under whose jurisdiction Sandeshkhali falls, claimed that the situation was under control. “Normalcy has been restored at Sandeshkhali. The situation is under control. However, police deployment will continue for some more time,” he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, there was tension in Taki town of Basirhat sub-division in the same district after BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar fell unconscious after he was caught in the midst of a scuffle between BJP supporters and the police. His bodyguards rushed him to the nearby Basirhat State General Hospital where he was put on oxygen support.

Local BJP leaders said Majumdar was not in his senses for quite some time and the state BJP leadership was considering shifting him to Kolkata once his condition stabilised slightly.

BJP leaders said on Wednesday morning, Majumdar offered prayers on the banks of the river Ichhamati in Taki on the occasion of Saraswati Puja. “After offering prayers he returned to his hotel and then started toward the Sandeshkhali area. However, a huge police contingent stopped us on the way and said we would not be able to go to Sandeshkhali since section 144 had been imposed in certain pockets,” said one of Majumdar’s associates.

Majumdar entered into a heated exchange of words with officials leading the police contingent. Thereafter, a scuffle broke out between BJP workers and policemen, with Majumdar stuck in the midst.