Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 7: Countering the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s accusation that women were “tortured” in West Bengal giving the example of the charges of manhandling of some women in Sandeshkhali village, the chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday led a rally of women in Kolkata and claimed that “women are safest” in her state.
The rally was organised on the eve of the “International Women’s Day” on Friday mainly to counter the BJP’s claim that the women by and large were alienating from the Trinamool Congress because the party sided with those who tortured women in Sandeshkhali.
Incidentally, a large number of women from the Sandeshkhali island also took part in the rally. The island village in North 24 Parganas district, has made headlines for the serious allegations against local Trinamool leaders, particularly controversial Sheikh Shahjahan and his close aides, of land grab, extortion and sexual harassment of women villagers.
Several of them had attended the Prime Minister’s rally at the district headquarters of Barasat on Wednesday and narrated their ordeal before him seeking protection from the Centre claiming that they had no faith in the local TMC government.
The theme of Thursday’s rally was “Mahilader Adhikar, Amader Angikar” (women’s rights, our commitment). The rally was in signature Mamata Banerjee style – a foot march with her at the front. Among the prominent women Trinamool leaders to join her were Sushmita Dev, Shashi Panja and the party’s newly-elected Rajya Sabha MP and journalist Sagarika Ghose. Ms Banerjee’s nephew and the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also joined the march.
Addressing the rally, Ms Banerjee said, “Yesterday, BJP leaders said women are tortured in Bengal. I can challenge that women are the safest in Bengal.” Targeting the BJP, she said, “Where were you when women were paraded naked in Manipur, when a woman was raped and her body forcibly cremated in Hathras? Have you forgotten Bilkis (Bano)?”
Every year, Ms Banerjee leads a march of women to mark the International Women’s Day on March 8. But this time, the rally was held on Thursday due to “Mahashivratri” on Friday.
Women voters form a key support base for the Trinamool Congress. Over the 13 years that the party has stayed in power, Ms Banerjee has consolidated this support base through schemes such as Kanyashri, Rupashree and Lakshmir Bhandar. But the Sandeshkhali episode and BJP’s aggressive campaign threatened to divide this voter base, and the Trinamool is taking no chances.
In his remarks at the BJP’s Mahila Morcha event in Barasat on Wednesday, the Prime Minister had described the Trinamool government as “anti-women”. He also said women in Bengal were outraged and the “storm of Sandeshkhali” won’t remain restricted to Sandeshkhali and would spread across Bengal. He also alleged that the Bengal government was using all its might to protect Sandeshkhali strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, who is now in the CBI’s custody. Expecting a backlash from women voters, Mr Modi has also given a very ambitious target to the state BJP of winning all the 42 seats in the Lok Sabha from the state.
After the allegations surfaced and the BJP raised a political storm, Ms Banerjee had, in a speech in the Assembly on February 15, hit back and accused Enforcement Directorate (ED) of targeting Shahjahan. But as the issue garnered national attention, the Trinamool changed tack and arrested the strongman. He was also expelled from the party for six years. The Trinamool then tried to turn the tables on the BJP, daring it to act against leaders who face serious charges.
The Trinamool’s move to get a group of Sandeshkhali women in today’s march is to counter the Prime Minister’s meeting with some women from the island after his public address on Wednesday. The BJP leaders have said the Prime Minister had heard the women “patiently, like a father figure, as they narrated their ordeal.”
Ms Banerjee also targeted the former Calcutta High Court judge responded to former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijt Gangopadhyay who resigned from the judiciary earlier this week and within hours announced his decision to join the BJP and to contest the Lok Sabha elections if fielded by the party. “A BJP babu was sitting on the bench and he joined BJP. How can you expect justice from them? The mask is off,” she said.
Mr Gangopadhyay came under ballistic attack from Ms Banerjee for making serious allegations against the TMC, Congress and other opposition parties and showering praises on the BJP and the Prime Minister even before his resignation from the judiciary was accepted.
Mr Gangopadhyay had made headlines as a judge of Calcutta High Court when he issued several orders to central agencies to investigate allegations of irregularities in the Mamata Banerjee government’s recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff.
“Today, I have joined a new field. I am happy to join the BJP and will work as a party soldier. Our objective is to oust the corrupt TMC regime from the state,” he said. There is speculation that the former judge may be fielded by the BJP in the Lok Sabha election.
Hitting out at the former judge, Ms Banerjee said, “After denying jobs to thousands of students, he has become a leader. Be ready. Wherever you contest from, I will send students to fight you. Remember, the people will judge you now.”
The Bengal Chief Minister added that she has five lakh jobs “but these dangerous snakes are denying jobs to the people of Bengal.” Ms Banerjee also hit back at Mr Modi’s barbs over the Sandeshkhali case. She said Bengal was the “safest for women.” “As many as 458 central teams came to Bengal. How many teams went to Manipur when women were paraded naked? How many teams went to Hathras? All your anger is for Bengal,” she said, countering the BJP’s charge.
In an apparent reference to the action against the Sandeshkhali strongman who has since been arrested and also suspended from the TMC for six years, Ms Banerjee said, “Sometimes we are not aware of things, but if injustice is reported, we don’t hesitate to arrest even Trinamool workers.”