In Mamata Banerjee's Fortress West Bengal, PM Modi Meets Women From Sandeshkhali

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the women of Sandeshkhali his parivar (family) and slammed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government for protecting the accused in the Sandeshkhali case.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday interacted with a group of women from Sandeshkhali, who have alleged sexual abuse by TMC leaders, BJP sources said to Zee News Television. "PM Modi met the victims like a father figure. They were very emotional with the fact that PM understood their pain," the party sources added. PM Modi met them after addressing a public rally at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district, where Sandeshkhali is situated.

“Following the public meeting, the Prime Minister had a conversation with some women from Sandeshkhali. The women narrated the horrors that they had faced,” news agency PTI quoted BJP state general secretary Agnimitra Paul as saying.

Earlier in the day, Modi called the women of Sandeshkhali his parivar (family) and slammed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government for protecting the accused in the Sandeshkhali case and said that it was a “matter of shame.”

Speaking at a women’s rally at Barasat, North 24 Parganas district, PM Modi said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was dedicated to the cause of women’s empowerment and safety.

“Under TMC’s rule, the women of this land have been oppressed. What happened in Sandeshkhali would shock anyone but the TMC government does not care about your issues. TMC government is determined to save the culprit. Their acts were first denounced 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 harassing the women from poor, Dalit, and Adivasis groups. TMC govt trusts its leaders more than it trusts the women of Bengal. TMC has full faith in their leader but not in the women of West Bengal,” the Prime Minister said.

PM Modi also said that there is a shadow in the name of TMC in Bengal adding that West Bengal CM is not allowing the development of this state to progress.

“TMC government can never provide security 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 Prime Minister further claimed that this huge program is evidence 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.

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.