Sandeshkhali Incident: BJP Delegation Barred From Visiting Area, Slams 'Mamata Banerjee's Dictatorship'

New Delhi: A team of BJP MPs, including two union ministers, was prevented by the police from visiting Sandeshkhali in West Bengal on Friday, where villagers have been protesting against alleged atrocities by local TMC leaders. The six-member delegation, led by BJP president J P Nadda, was stopped at Rampur village on the way to Sandeshkhali block in North 24 Parganas district, citing prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC. The BJP leaders staged a sit-in and accused the Mamata Banerjee government of shielding the culprits and suppressing the voice of the victims.

“We are here to meet the affected people and give them justice. The police are very quick to stop us, but they have failed to arrest Shajahan Sheikh and his goons, who are responsible for the violence,” said Annapurna Devi, the union minister of state for education and the convenor of the team.

Yesterday, Mamata Banerjee took to the floor of Assembly and defended Shahjahan Sheikh, maligned the women, who have been raped… She was remorseless. This kind of depravity is the death knell for democracy in West Bengal.
The CM, by her intervention, has prejudiced the police.… pic.twitter.com/1MgCGWczqL

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 16, 2024

Shajahan Sheikh, a TMC strongman, has been on the run since January 5, when a mob, allegedly linked to him, attacked Enforcement Directorate officials who had gone to raid his premises in connection with a ration scam.

Several women in Sandeshkhali have accused Shajahan and his supporters of grabbing their land and sexually assaulting them under duress. Pratima Bhoumik, the union minister of state for social justice and empowerment, said that the police were “trying to protect the criminals and goons” and that the law and order situation in Sandeshkhali was “non-existent”.

“We are union ministers and MPs, and there are certain protocols. The state police and the administration are not respecting those protocols. They are acting on the orders of the chief minister, who wants to hide the truth from the public,” she said.

The other members of the BJP team were Sunita Duggal, Kavita Patidar, Sangeeta Yadav, Brij Lal, a former Uttar Pradesh DGP, and Khagen Murmu.

The delegation was formed by Nadda after he visited the state earlier this week and met the families of BJP workers who were allegedly killed or injured in the post-poll violence. The BJP has claimed that the TMC has unleashed a reign of terror on its supporters and workers after winning the assembly elections in May.

The TMC, however, has dismissed the BJP’s allegations as baseless and politically motivated. It has also questioned the need for the BJP team to visit Sandeshkhali, saying that the situation was under control and the police were taking action against the perpetrators of any violence.

“The police did the right thing by stopping the BJP delegation. It is trying to vitiate the atmosphere of the state. When the administration is doing everything to restore peace, the BJP is trying to disturb that for political gains,” said TMC leader Santanu Sen.

The BJP team, later in the day, will meet Governor C V Ananda Bose in Kolkata. Sandeshkhali has been witnessing protests for the seventh consecutive day on Thursday, with a large number of women demonstrators demanding the arrest of Shajahan Sheikh and his associates.