Sandeshkhali: Shahjahan Still On The Run; Locals Continue To Speak Against State Government And Police

The women protestors of Sandeshkhali are in no mood to back down.

That is why alleged attempts to silence the protestors have been met with defiance which is spilling over to the narrow, unpaved lanes snaking between paddyfields and fish ponds of Sandeshkhali. 

The state government's response

An investigation into allegations of sexual crimes against women is being carried out by a ten-member police team headed by a lady DIG-rank officer. 

The team, accompanied by local police officials, who have been accused of shielding Trinamool functionaries and threatening local people who had dared to complain against them (Trinamool netas), is visiting families of all women who had led or participated in the protests last week. 

What locals say

Some of the women Swarajya spoke to over the last two days said that the team has been posing “embarrassing questions” to them.

“They (the police team) asked me for proof that I was called to the Trinamool office late at night and molested there. They asked me if I had undergone medical examinations after such assaults and why I had not lodged formal complaints with the local police. Their attitude was insulting and I felt demeaned,” said a woman, a resident of Jeliakhali, who had been at the forefront of the protests last week. 

Another woman who had participated in last week’s protests and had spoken to TV channels about the sexual exploitation of women of Sandeshkhali by Trinamool leaders told Swarajya: “They asked me for proof that we were violated repeatedly by Trinamool functionaries. They also asked me if I suffered injuries and if I had got myself treated for such injuries. They also asked me if I had told my husband and family members about my ordeals and if they would testify before a court. The whole exercise was intrusive and the motive was to dissuade me from lodging a formal complaint against the Trinamool netas,” the woman, who did not want to be named for fear of being targeted, told Swarajya. 

Other women who spoke to this correspondent had similar tales to narrate.

If the questioning of the women victims by the police team is being seen as intrusive and insulting, actions of the local police are perceived to be more blatant. 

“We are being told that if we protest any more or speak to the media, we will be arrested. Our womenfolk are being told that they will become widows and our children will become orphans,” claimed a small trader at Trimoni Bazar. 

“I was told that my family will be destroyed if I open my mouth,” said a vegetable seller at near the same spot. 

But the people's protests are unlikely to subside. That’s evident from the recurring protests by women, who have continued to speak out openly.

“We will not back down now. To do so would mean subjecting ourselves and our children to more atrocities by the Trinamool leaders. They have been molesting us all this while and if we withdraw our protests now, they will be emboldened to molest our daughters after that,” said a woman protester from Khulna in Sandeshkhali. 

The police have run into opposition in many areas. A local police team faced angry women armed with brooms, choppers and sticks at Tushkhali. Another police team faced similar protests led by women at Situlia. 

Women have been gathering at various places in Sandeshkhali and raising slogans against Trinamool leaders Sheikh Shahjahan and Shiboprasad Hazra. 

The special investigation team of the police that was constituted by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also been facing uncomfortable questions. They were asked at many places why the police have failed to arrest Shahjahan and Hazra despite all the allegations against them. 

“If you cannot arrest the two Trinamool leaders, you have no right to carry out a probe. First arrest them and then come to ask us questions,” a police officer who is a member of the team was told Thursday (February 15) by some women. 

Residents of Sandeshkhali, especially the womenfolk, have vowed not to back down. “Come what may, we will continue our protests till Shahjahan and Hazra are arrested and prosecuted for their crimes. If the state government does not act against them and undo the wrongs they committed, our protests will intensify,” warned a woman resident of Jeliakhali whose daughter-in-law had been targeted by Trinamool functionaries. 

“Our voices can no longer be suppressed. We will go to any length to get justice. The police think they’re powerful, but people’s power is supreme. Sandeshkhali and the whole of Bengal will burn if the police continue to intimidate us,” said the neighbour of the woman quoted above.