Victims of Sandeshkhali violence while speaking to the mediapersons at the Constitution Club of India
Women from Sandeshkhali’s tribal and Dalit groups spoke out about the alleged horrors they had suffered at the hands of TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, who is currently in jail and on suspension. These women, while interacting with media on Friday, March 16 demanded that his two brothers, Shaikh Siraj and Alamgir be taken into custody in relation to these crimes. They claimed that the brothers were threatening the victims of the alleged atrocities.
The women went on to say that Shahjahan’s siblings were threatening the victims that when the outrage over the Sandeshkhali episodes subsides and the media and courts turn their attention to other concerns, no one will stand by them. The women stated that as long as Shahjahan’s brothers are free, Sandeshkhali cannot have a terror-free atmosphere.
They said that even while Sheikh Shahjahan was on suspension and being held by the CBI, his goons were still out and about in Sandeshkhali, intimidating women. The victims claimed that the imprisoned strongman and his allies had such power that the police and the local government obeyed his orders.
Up to eleven victims of the violence and crimes in Sandeshkhali, five of whom were women, met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan earlier in the day to request her action to safeguard the rights of SC and ST women.
At their meeting with President Droupadi Murmu on Friday, March 15 these women urged that central security force troops be stationed in the area to protect them. In their memorandum to the President, the six women from Sandeshkhali have demanded for justice.
One of the women, who was present at the briefing with her toddler, told the media shortly after seeing the President that she fears for her life once she gets back home.
She said, “I don’t know what will happen when I return. We have been threatened that if we speak there will be repercussions.”
“The brief for Sheikh Shahjahan’s men was to grab the land of tribals and make them submit to their whims and dictates. If anyone raised his voice against him, TMC goons would beat him up or pull out weapons, threatening to kill them,” another woman from Sandeshkhali alleged.
They added that their loved ones, family members, and children were routinely receiving threats of death, and that the TMC government was still too preoccupied with protecting criminals rather than offering assistance and support to the victims.
“The police have not even imposed sections of the Prevention of Atrocities and Protection of Civil Rights Act, which is necessary to protect women from SC and ST communities who are facing oppression,” a different woman stated.
These women claimed that teams from the Women’s Commission, Scheduled Caste Commission, and National Scheduled Tribe Commission also went to Sandeshkhali with the intention of bringing justice to the women who had been harmed, but they were unable to do so since the Mamata Banerjee led Bengal government was still providing ‘protection’ to the strongman and his associates.
Along with them at the press briefing was chief of the NGO Center for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Support and Research, Parth Biswas, who described the situation in Sandeshkhali as “extremely dire.”
“Sheikh Shahjahan’s modus operandi was to grab land of the poor people, then inundate the land with salt water so that the land turns infertile and then use it for pisciculture,” Biswas stated.
Today, these six ladies would stage a demonstration at Jantar Mantar. Biswas has also invited the leaders of the Dalit community to participate.
Tension has been high in Sandeshkhali, in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal, as many women in the area have accused TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his allies of “land-grab and sexually assaulting” them while they were being coerced.
Sheikh Shahjahan was apprehended in the last week of February. He had been missing since January 5, when his goons fought Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers during a raid at his home in relation to an alleged ration scam.
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