West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose on Wednesday said the women of Sandeshkhali in West Bengal are scared, and their freedom and dignity has been hurt in a “shocking and shattering” manner. He had gone down to the village in North 24 Parganas district to take stock of the situation, where local residents have been protesting for the past week over allegations of atrocities on women and land grabbing by goons owing allegiance to the ruling party in the state.
The name of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh has repeatedly come up in connection with the allegations. Sandeshkhali grabbed headlines when ED officials were attacked by a mob when they went to search Sheikh’s premises on January 5.
In an exclusive interview, Bose told CNN-News18 that there is a kind of fear psychosis in the area and an absence of law and order. Protection from the rule of law or from law enforcers as far as the local residents are concerned is also missing, he said. The governor has cancelled his official visit to Delhi and will be returning to Sandeshkhali. Excerpts:
You went down to Sandeshkhali. What is your assessment of the situation on the ground?
What I saw there was shocking and shattering. Women’s freedom and dignity were all given the go by. I saw what the people call ‘goondaraj’ in that locality. There is a kind of fear psychosis there and I could not find any law enforcement agency active at the moment I was there. Now, from here I’m in touch with the victims. I find that there is still a scare and something has to be done effectively. I have cancelled my official visit in Delhi and am going back to Sandeshkhali to see what best can be done.
Were you able to speak with any of the victims? They have made some startling allegations. Did you hear from them? What did they say to you?
I met hundreds of women there. They are all on the streets and I interacted with them. I could understand their sentiments, their feelings. They also gave to me, in writing, the names of the offenders. All they wanted was a reassurance that there will be peace, peace with honour. But, their honour is in pieces.
Have they been subjugated to atrocities that are a gross violation of basic human rights?
As I could gather from them, I think the worst that can happen has happened there. Women’s dignity has been thrown to the winds. They’re all scared. It is not a crime in a particular place, it’s a crime against womanhood, against humanity…
There is an allegation that there has been a deliberate attempt to polarise or politicise the situation. Would you see any merit in that allegation made by the Trinamool Congress?
Politics is not my cup of tea. I refrain from commenting on that.
But is there a real problem on the ground? If I may ask you, what have you witnessed or is it just somebody’s figment of imagination?
It’s not a figment of imagination. It’s reality that I saw there. To deny that atrocities have happened, is wrong. There is an anarchy-like situation there and people can feel it; they are dejected, depressed. They have been oppressed by the gangsters, that’s a fact. We can’t deny it.
Did these women you met say their complaints have been written down? Have their complaints been lodged? Have they been heard?
They made oral complaints to me first. Then they gave me written complaints. At least 100 women have given written complaints to me and I am issuing it as my report card to the people. If you want to know what they told me, I can elaborate on it now.
Could you please elaborate?
See, one thing which all of them said is that they were intimidated by the goons. They also gave me names. First, they told me about the intimidation and threats to villagers by Shajahan Sheikh, Sushanta Sardar, Shivprasad Hazra, Neelkantha Hazra, Sanju Singh, Ranju Singh, son of Amal Singh, Shantanu Basu and others. They told me about the torture and sexual harassment of women when the men were away. They also said the police are working hand-in-glove with rowdy elements. Then, grabbing land forcibly…letting sewage into the land of those who do not agree to part with their land, coercing village residents to withdraw police complaints. The police, instead of filing complaints against miscreants, direct local residents to compromise. They also told me about goons posing as policemen, and trespassing into people’s homes at night. There are other complaints as well, but these are the main one given to me in writing.
You have got the complaints in writing and one of them is sexual harassment and some of the women being forced upon or being targeted, especially when their husbands or wards are not around. Did many women say this to you? As many are saying that the 10-member team under a woman DIG has not received any official complaint so far, alleging rape or sexual harassment.
I am not an investigating officer. I don’t want to join issue with the junior investigating officers who went there. I have stated what they told me. This is a statement of facts.
Was there clear evidence of land grab or this kind of atrocities being committed when you interacted with these victims? And did all of them echo these points that you have compiled in your report?
I cannot vouch for that. These complaints are general in nature. I have called out the main complaints that were lodged. It doesn’t mean that every complaint was made by everyone who lodged complaints with me. These are the major complaints that I received from the people.
Did you get a sense that there were perhaps a certain group of illegals, people who are not necessarily Indian citizens who could be present in that area, in that region? Is that a cause for concern?
I have no basis to say that.
The women there are alleging that they are being stopped from protesting because Section 144 is in place. Would you want the women to be heard?
In all fairness, I would say when I went there, there was no restriction. Women in hundreds came and met me. I didn’t find anybody putting restrictions on them, but there were restrictions on the general public particularly for the press. This is my personal experience. Around 10 vehicles belonging to the media were trailing my motorcade but were stopped at one place. When I got to know of this, I reversed my car and told the police that I am the governor and I decide who should be in my motorcade. These media persons are part of my motorcade. Then they were allowed to come with me and were not stopped.
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