Bengal post-poll violence: HC's order for CBI probe is first step towards justice, says National Commission for Minorities

New Delhi [India], August 19 : After the Calcutta High Court's order for a CBI inquiry into the post-poll violence in West Bengal, Atif Rasheed, Vice Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities on Thursday said the order is the first step towards justice to the innocent voters of the state.
Rasheed was also a member of the team constituted by the National Human Rights Commission probing the alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal.
Speaking to ANI, Rasheed said, "This order is the first step towards justice to those innocent voters of Bengal. It is the first step of justice to those who exercised their constitutional right in the Bengal elections by voting for the party of their choice and in return had to face the consequences of violence, murder, rape and exodus, which were ignored by the police and the government."
"I hope that now the police will work honestly and help in establishing justice in Bengal. But justice is not established yet. This is the first step towards justice, but it has definitely given hope to the poor labourers of Bengal who were punished for choosing BJP as an alternative," he added.
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday ordered a court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incidents of post-poll violence in West Bengal.
The High Court also ordered to set up Special Investigation Teams (SIT) for investigation of relatively less serious crimes and senior officers from West Bengal cadre will be a part of the team.
The court also directed the state government to take immediate steps for compensation for the victims of post-poll violence.
On July 15, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team probing the alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal had submitted its final report to Calcutta High Court.
The NHRC in its report on the alleged post-election violence in West Bengal submitted to Calcutta High Court stated that "Spatio-temporal expanse of violent incidents in the state reflects appalling apathy of the state government towards the plight of victims".
In the report, the committee said, "This was retributive violence by supporters of the ruling party against supporters of the main Opposition party. It resulted in disruption of life and livelihood of thousands of people and their economic strangulation."
Several incidents of violence have been reported at various places after the announcement of the Assembly poll results on May 2, after which a four-member team deputed by the Ministry of Home Affairs also visited the post-poll violence-affected areas.