Sandeshkali, Mamata’s Waterloo?
The 8 gram panchayats under Sandeshkali block-II, in rural West Bengal have been in the news for the last few weeks. It began with a raid by the investigation agencies over scams, which are too common, particularly when the elections are around. What made Sandeshkali special was the orchestrated attack on the central investigation team when they raided a local TMC leader, Shahjahan, in connection with the ration scam on January 5, 2024. Locals, mostly women, appeared with sticks and lathis and attacked the enforcement directorate officials, some of whom had to be hospitalized for the injuries sustained.
The perpetrator of the violence, Shahjahan, is the president of the Sandeshkali TMC Unit, a member of the local Zilla Parishad and is also in charge of the fisheries in the district council. Possessing control over fisheries guarantees a starnglehold on the community. Shahjahan was the government and his words were the constitution and law in this part of West Bengal, where the state has to rely on toughies for winning elections. The TMC party benefits in every election in the area as it is close to Bangladesh, has been a passage for illegal trafficking and illegal currency remittances, and is an entry point for thousands of illegal minority immigrants from Bangladesh.
The TMC party grudgingly suspended Uttam Sardar from their party, soon after which he was arrested. However, Shahjahan has gone underground and has evaded ED summons repeatedly. His attorneys have asked the court for anticipatory bail and to stop any coercive action by the enforcement agencies, but the court has rejected their request. Rumours vary as to whether he is very much in his village or whether he has fled the country over to Myanmar.
His long absence has emboldened the women, this time the Hindus, who were in minority in many pockets, to take to lathis and sickle and chase all Shahjahan’s men. Gory details of regular local surveys of homes to pick up beautiful wives and daughters and sexually assault them for many days, keeping them confined in their party offices, are emerging in a shocked nation. The visiting state women’s welfare team, though, discounts these allegations, which may be due to the threat of Shahjahan returning to the region to flex his muscles with the support of the police and the party.
Shahjahan’s arrest could open a can of worms, which could become another Nandigram or a Singur movement, which were responsible for dislodging the left-run government and instilling Mamata. In a knee-jerk reaction, the state government imposed a Sec. 144 and internet outages, but the move could only further galvanize the resolve of the affected women.
The Governor of West Bengal, Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose, visited Sandeshkali yesterday and was horrified at the situation of the hapless women at the hands of the gangsters. However, a busload of BJP legislators who were visiting the troubled region were stopped in Kolkata and were barred from visiting the troubled spot. The women in Sandeshkali would no longer take it lying down and are out in numbers in their daily protest marches.
I’m not into politics, but letting criminal elements take control of political parties only with the object of winning elections is despicable and every conscientious Indian citizen must voice their protest over the enslaved poor in Sandeshkali and elsewhere, merely because they could be illegal immigrants and at the mercy of gangsters like Shahjahan.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
