 "Oppn stopped from visiting Sandeshkhali, NCSC recommends President's rule")
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) on Friday recommended President's Rule in West Bengal amid violence and political tensions after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused a Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman, the on-the-run Sheikh Shahjahan, and his aides of multiple counts of sexual assault in Sandeshkhali.
A delegation visited Sandeshkhali on Thursday and submitted a report to President Droupadi Murmu this morning. NCSC Chairperson Arun Halder said, "Criminals in the state have joined hands with the government there, [and this] is impacting the lives of members of the Scheduled Caste communities."
Halder also alleged that the NCSC received no help from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government when trying to meet the women who Sheikh Shahjahan allegedly assaulted.
The village at the centre of the latest conflict between the BJP and the TMC is located on an island in the Kalindi River, in the Basirhat subdivision of Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.
BJP central team, Congress MP stopped from visiting Sandeshkhali
Political tensions have risen as authorities stopped delegations from the BJP and the Congress, which is (nominally) still an ally of the ruling Trinamool.
The Congress group was led by the party's state chief, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is an unrelenting critic of Mamata Banerjee and has accused her of trying to politicise the issue.
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"Why are Opposition parties being stopped from entering Sandeshkhali? What is the state trying to hide? Why are they trying to politicise it?" Chowdhury asked.
Earlier, the BJP's delegation was also stopped and is now meeting Governor CV Ananda Bose. The group has accused Banerjee of being "scared" and said that "Hindu women were raped... Bengal is burning."
The turmoil here began in early January with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) trying to raid Shahjahan's residence in connection with a multi-crore ration distribution scam. His men allegedly assaulted the probe agency's officers, leading to some violence and injuries to the ED personnel.
Shahjahan and his close aide have been missing since January 5.
That flare-up has snowballed with allegations of the rape of "young Hindu married women", as claimed by Union Minister Smriti Irani Tuesday, as well as charges of land grabbing.
What is happening in Sandeshkhali?
The women further claimed that they were tortured by Trinamool leaders who kidnapped their husbands and then summoned their wives to the party's local office. "If we refused to go... they would thrash them. We were forced..." one woman, who did not reveal her identity, said.
The charges came before the Supreme Court this morning after an advocate filed a PIL, or public interest litigation, requesting an investigation by a special investigation team or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The PIL also demands retribution against cops who allegedly refused to register rape complaints.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee has denied the allegations, saying "... have never allowed injustice" and accusing the BJP of inciting trouble in Sandeshkhali ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
"First they targeted Sheikh Shahjahan through ED, and then started trouble [in Sandeshkhali] by getting people in. There is an RSS base [there]... there were riots earlier too," she said.
She further informed the Assembly that 17 people, including former Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA Nirapada Sardar and local BJP leader Bikash Singh, have been arrested so far. "No one involved in any wrongdoing will be spared... I have sent the women's commission and formed a police team," said Banerjee.
Uttam Sardar, a local Trinamool leader who was suspended last week, has also been arrested.