Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Sandeshkhali accused Sheikh Shahjahan is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate till April 13, but for BJP’s Basirhat Lok Sabha candidate Rekha Patra, the fight for justice is far from over. Patra said just before his arrest, Shahjahan had boasted there are many Sheikh Shahjahans around to take his place. In an interview to Organiser Weekly in Kolkata, Patra said her political rival, the Trinamool Congress’ Basirhat candidate for Lok Sabha elections 2024, Haji Nurul Islam, is like Sheikh Shahjahan himself.
“Haji Nurul Islam has been involved in communal violence. He was accused in the 2010 Deganga riots. Yet he has been given a ticket to fight the elections from my constituency. Our fight for justice and dignity is far from over. The women of Sandeshkhali are scarred. Shahjahan is in ED custody but there are other local TMC leaders like Dilip Mallick who are still roaming around. And now, the TMC has chosen to field a rioter like Haji Nurul, who has spread communal hate in Deganga, Baduria and Basirhat areas. We can’t rest till we remove all Shahjahans and Nuruls from society,” Patra said.
On September 14, 2010, the Indian Express had reported that “Trinamool Congress MP from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas, Haji Nurul Islam… is accused of presiding over a four-hour mayhem on September 6 in Deganga that led to destruction of properties belonging to Hindus and the desecration of a temple.” Despite the allegations, Haji Nurul Islam, who has been the MP from Basirhat from 2009 to 2014, is a formidable candidate, while Patra is a novice in politics. “I may be new to politics but I have the support of the people who have suffered under Sheikh Shahjahan and the politics of the TMC,” Patra said.
The face of Sandeshkhali and Modi’s voice
Rekha Patra said she still can’t believe that she got to speak to the Prime Minister over phone. “I come from the margins of society. I know nothing about politics. When I received a phone call from Narendra Modi, I was overwhelmed. He has been a father figure to me much before the movement began at Sandeshkhali and I got the opportunity to become the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate,” Patra said.
Patra became the face of the protests at Sandeshkhali when a group of women, armed with sticks and brooms, came out in front of television cameras to protest against landgrab and sexual assault by local TMC leaders under the protection of Sheikh Shahjahan.
“Several local women accused Sheikh and his associates of torturing and sexually harassing them over several years, and also of grabbing their lands for prawn cultivation…They have alleged that Sheikh and his associates used to survey homes to look for young women, whom they would take to the party office and sexually assault,” the Scroll reported on February 25.
On February 29, Shahjahan was arrested from Minakhan in North 24 Parganas district. On March 26, the PM called Patra and said: “You fought a big battle in Sandeshkhali, you are a Shakti Swaroopa. You sent such powerful people to jail. You have pulled off a very courageous act.”“I had only heard about him and seen him on TV till then. I was overjoyed to receive his call. I told him about the exploitation Sandeshkhali’s women faced at the hands of Shahjahan and his men. Villagers have not been able to vote since 2011,” Patra said in the interview.
Surprised as she is at becoming the BJP’s MP candidate from Basirhat, Patra said she may be new to the BJP, but her politics have been shaped by the people’s movement of which she has been a part. “Plus, I am a quick learner,” she quipped.
Patra said she has always known that the BJP means hope for the people. Fighting from Basirhat, she knows she might have to give up her life. “I am not afraid of giving up my life, but if I can gift Basirhat to our beloved prime minister, it would be an honour for me. It is now up to the women and men of Basirhat to decide whether they will stand with a rioter like Haji Nurul or a common woman like me,” Patra said.
“The PM gave me no political advice. He gave me his blessings instead. I am grateful to him for that. Sitting in Delhi, he could hear the cries of the mothers and sisters of Sandeshkhali, which the state’s Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, could not. The fight for Basirhat is a tough one, no doubt, but knowing that Modi is behind us fills me with hope,” she said.
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