West Bengal Governor, BJP slam CM Mamata Banerjee over Sandeshkhali violence

North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) [India], February 12 : West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose met and interacted with the protesting women in North 24 Parganas' Sandeshkhali during his visit to the violence-hit village as Union Minister Smriti Irani made serious allegations against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of conducting "genocide on Hindu women".
The Governor arrived in Sandeshkali after cutting short his visit in Kerala, where Trinamool Congress supporters held placards and black flags in protest against Bose as his convoy arrived at the village. The Bharatiya Janata Party workers protested as they were not allowed to enter the village by the police.
After his interaction, the Governor said that after listening to the villagers, he could not believe that such a horrific incident could happen in the state where Rabindranath Tagore was born.
"When I listened to my mothers and sisters there I could not believe that this could happen in Kabi guru Rabindranath Tagore's place," the Governor said.
Speaking about the incident, Bose said, "Imagine a happy home, husband and wife, grown-up children, including girl children. Some goons come inside the house, catch hold of the girl child, assault the wife in front of the husband, and beat up the husband...This is no fiction. This is what I was told happened in this village in the last few days."
The Governor said that he was shocked and shattered to hear from the women protesters about the incident.
"What I saw was ghastly shocking, shattering to my senses. I saw something which I should never have seen. I heard many things which I should never have heard. If you have tears, this is the time to shed those tears. If you have sighs to heave, heave them now. That is how horrible human life is, where the law cannot take its course," the Governor said.
The Governor said that they should fight against such injustice under the Constituion and within the laws of the land.
"They (villagers) know who did this. They know the goons, they are at large. This shocks civilised senses anywhere. This can never happen. We should fight it out under the Constitution. I will fight it out under the Constitution. I will fight it out within the laws of the land. I will fight it out with the democratically elected government of the state. Certainly, we will spare no efforts to see that the guilty are punished," Bose said.
The Governor said that it is shameful for society that such an act of violence goes unchecked by the authority.
"Confidence should be restored in women. A society that leaves its women to fend for themselves. If the women had to come out of their houses in numbers and protest against this ghastly crime that went around unchecked by the authorities, it is a shame for us and a shame for the entire society. This should not happen in a civilised space like Bengal," he said.
The Governor had previously instructed the State government to submit a report on the violence that broke out in Sandeshkhali on Friday, the Raj Bhavan stated.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Smriti Irani alleged on Monday that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is known for the 'genocide' of Hindus.
"The women of Sandeshkhali are crying out for help and protection. Mamata Bandopadhyay is known for the genocide of Hindu women, and she will now allow her men to pick out Hindu young married women to be raped night after night in the TMC office," Irani said while addressing the media here in the national capital.
"Women belonging to the SC/ST community from West Bengal's Sandeshkhali have informed media that Men of the TMC party will come to homes and check which woman is beautiful. The women of Sandeshkhali have told to journalists regarding the intention of TMC leaders and their conversation with the husbands of women who are crying out for help. TMC leaders told husbands of these particular Hindu women that, 'You can be a husband by name only, but you will now have no rights'," she added.
The Union Minister further said, "The Bangla women have informed journalists about the TMC, 'They will take us night after night. Till the time, the TMC men were not satisfied; night after night, you have no escape'."
"The question is, can we, as citizens, be mute speculators? Who is this man who is charged by the women of Sandeshkhali with mass rape of Bengali Hindu women? I say this because the women of Sandeshkhali, when they spoke to the media locally, said that they were particularly identified as being married and Hindu. Till now, everybody has been wondering who Sheikh Shahjahan is," she added.
Smriti Irani also highlighted the incident when ED officers were attacked earlier last month, in the North 24 Parganas district while they were to search the premises of TMC leader Sheikh Shahkjahan in an alleged ration scam case. However, Shahjahan has been absconding since the incident took place.
"The last time you heard this name was when ED officers were 'gheraod', injured and pelted with bricks and stones. The ED made a statement that three of their officers suffered injuries that were intended to cause death. Mamata Bandopadhyay, you have traded the dignity of SC/ST, fisehrmen families and the farming communities and their women for your political benefit," Irani said.
"Where is Sheikh Shahjahan? And for those women of Sandeshkhali who came out to talk to the media only so that they could draw attention to their plight, Section 144 now applicable in Sandeshkhali so that those women have no opportunities to assemble and speak to the media," she added.
In a recent incident in the Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal, agitated villagers set fire to the poultry farm belonging to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shivprasad Hazra.
Locals, particularly women, marched through various sections of Sandeshkhali, carrying slippers in their hands, demanding the arrest of TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh in an alleged land ration allotment scam.