There have been multiple occasions when the West Bengal Government has withheld permissions for programmes involving RSS-BJP leaders in the past, sighting flimsy reasons, be it denying permission to Mohan Bhagwat for an address at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in 2017 or denying Amit Shah’s chopper to land at a Malda airstrip in 2019.
Unprecedented violence swept the State of West Bengal as TMC workers and supporters ran riot, targeting their BJP counterparts in the wake of assembly elections that resulted in a thumping victory for Mamata Banerjee. Following the violence, NHRC visited the state to assess the extent of human rights violations. A part of NHRC, the National Commission for ST (NCST), also visited the State in July and submitted its report on the findings.
As per reports, the NCST found evidence of rampant violence and targeted attack on Hindu homes by TMC cadres. The Commission found that tribal communities were living under perpetual fear of persecution after the post-poll elections. They were unable to lodge complaints with the police or revenue officials because of fear of retribution. Santhal tribes in Hooghly East Bardhaman and Jhargram were repeatedly brutalised by the draconian Mamata Banerjee regime. In the Midnapur district, the NCST found that tribal families belonging to Munda Tribe were subjected to attack by violent mobs, were forced to confine themselves to their homes, and were even restricted from visiting markets or selling their agricultural produce. There were acts of physical assault and caste discrimination as well. Many tribals stated that vehicles operated by them were not allowed to ply on roads by the local police in the post-poll violence in May 2021, unleashed by TMC goons. The SC women faced boycotts from various sections of society, thereby exacerbating their financial woes.
Several districts in 24 North Parganas were among those affected by the violence that erupted in the wake of the assembly election results in West Bengal, last year. People from Mahato, Munda, Bedia, and Oraon communities were affected by violence in these districts. It is learnt that incidents such as looting valuables, ransacking of houses and shops, theft of gold chains, cycles, destruction of kitchen and damaging of asbestos sheets, raping and molesting women, shooting people at point-blank range, happened with rank impunity with the blessings of the TMC regime.
NHRC made damning disclosures on post-poll violence in West Bengal, to the Calcutta High Court on July 14, 2021, regarding the post-poll violence in West Bengal.NHRC, a statutory public body, said in its report that, after visiting 311 spots in 20 days and carrying out an extensive inquiry in the matter, the seven-member committee constituted to probe the post-poll violence in West Bengal concluded that the situation of the State was a manifestation of ‘Law of Ruler’, instead of ‘Rule of Law’. Most complaints were from Cooch Behar, Birbhum, Bardhaman, North 24 Parganas, and Kolkata, said the NHRC, adding that most of the complaints related to rape, arson, loot, molestation, and vandalism. A five-judge bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal observed: “There are a lot of issues which have not been addressed by the State despite being raised in various petitions pending in this court. People are facing difficulties. Even the persons who have been reinstated are being threatened again, whereas some are still not able to come back. The effect of this inaction on the part of the State is also that these people are not able to earn their livelihood. The complaints filed by them to the police are not being acted upon and they are being threatened with cross cases.” Furthermore, in a scathingly damning indictment of the incompetent and insensitive Mamata Banerjee regime, the Calcutta High Court said: “Instead of giving any specific replies, the State government in its affidavit has simply made a general statement that all the petitions were politically motivated”.
The Court reminded the Mamata Banerjee government that it was simply making flimsy excuses to cover-up the gross negligence and criminal apathy of the TMC dispensation in the post-poll violence in Bengal in May 2021.
“In a case like where the allegation is that life and property of the residents of the State is in danger on account of alleged post-poll violence, the State cannot be allowed to proceed in the manner it likes. The complaints required immediate action. It is the duty of the State to maintain law and order in the State and inspire confidence in the residents of the State,” the Court further noted. The Court also said that the West Bengal government was obligated to ensure that people, who got displaced during the post-poll violence, were able to return to their homes, which the Mamata Banerjee government had failed to do.
Earlier the Court had asked the State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) in West Bengal to look into the complaints of the displaced persons. The Court, looking at the report, said that the facts reflected therein are quite different from what the State has been claiming.”The State from the very beginning had been denying everything, but the facts as have been placed on record by the petitioners and also as is evident little bit from the report dated June 3, 2021 compiled by the Member Secretary of the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority, are different,” it noted. The Court also warned the Mamata Banerjee government that there should be no obstruction against the NHRC inquiry. “Such obstruction shall be viewed seriously, which may entail action under the Contempt of Courts Act besides others,” the order said.
Gruesome details of violence at the hands of Trinamool (TMC) workers against the people perceived to have supported Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began circulating after the results of West Bengal assembly elections showed Mamata Banerjee’s party victorious. The victims accused the mainstream media of turning a blind eye to the plight of people who suffered brutal violence at the hands of the TMC cadre. Last year, the women victims of the violence approached the Supreme Court of India (SC) seeking an SIT probe into all incidents of violence and the inaction of the police. In their petitions, the victims narrated how they were beaten badly, gang-raped in front of family members including children, how their houses were ransacked and valuable things were stolen, and how they had to witness their relatives being hacked to death in front of their own eyes. The women told the Court they were being harassed by the local administration as well as the police, to withdraw their complaints. Mamata fiddled like Nero while Birbhum was burning, in March 2022. Even last year, only 137 FIRs were registered despite 3384 reported cases of post-poll violence. What is worse,90% of those who were arrested were allowed to go scot-free within 48 hours. Thousands of cases went unreported.
Be it the Kaliachak riots in Malda district or the Dhulagarh riots in 2016, riots in Baduria in Basirhat district in 2017, Aasansol riots of 2018, Bhadreshwar riots of 2019, violence at Jadavpur in 2020, or the Sitakulchi killings in 2021, Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly, wilfully and deliberately turned a blind eye to the brutality with which political killings have happened, with peace-loving and unarmed Hindus being made soft targets and scapegoats. In the Birbhum massacre, where people were locked in their houses, bolted from outside, and then burnt alive, Mamata Banerjee has once again showcased how the culture of violence has become the mainstay of TMC’s political grammar. As Home Minister, Mamata has given a free run to the State police to abet, encourage and connive with the perpetrators. “We could not contact the District Magistrate. But the police should have handed over the bodies to us. Instead, we learnt that they buried them at night in the village. This is unacceptable,” said Mihilal Sheikh, the relative of a deceased person in the Birbhum massacre. Anarul Hussain, a TMC Block President, is said to be the mastermind and key conspirator of the horrific Birbhum killings.
That most victims of the Birbhum massacre were Muslims, does not mean it is any less vicious. A terrifying cocktail of bigotry, appeasement-driven politics and “Didigiri” that thrives on Mamata Banerjee’s ‘dadagiri’, has led to the complete collapse of law and order, making West Bengal a fit case for imposition of Article 356, is what most experts opine. They say winning elections is tough, but retaining power is even tougher. Unfortunately, Mamata Banerjee, despite retaining power, shows why it is still tough to deliver and govern. By flouting democratic traditions repeatedly, she has shown how hubris can sound the death knell of good governance. Poor vision, poorer delivery, and embarrassing misgovernance are Mamata Didi’s hallmarks. She has failed the people of Bengal time and again.
The Birbhum massacre is certainly not going to fade away or be forgotten, any time soon. The supremely rabble-rousing and incompetent Mamata Banerjee has a lot to explain and a lot to be held accountable for.
(Part one of the piece was published last week.)
Sanju Verma is an Economist, National Spokesperson of the BJP, and the Bestselling Author of ‘The Modi Gambit’. Views expressed are the writer’s personal.
Gruesome details of violence at the hands of Trinamool (TMC) workers against the people perceived to have supported Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began circulating after the results of West Bengal Assembly elections showed Mamata Banerjee’s party victorious. The victims accused the mainstream media of turning a blind eye to the plight of people who suffered brutal violence at the hands of the TMC cadres. Last year, the women victims of the violence approached the Supreme Court of India (SC) seeking an SIT probe into all incidents of violence and the inaction of the police.
