 "Suvendu Adhikari")
Five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators, including West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari, are scheduled to visit Sandeshkhali in the North 24 Parganas district, where protests erupted over allegations of sexual assault and land grab by a local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and his supporters.
The upcoming visit comes a day after the Calcutta High Court (HC) permitted Adhikari to visit Sandeshkhali and ordered him not to make any "provocative speeches" or engage in "any unlawful activities" in the violence-hit region. Adhikari was earlier not allowed to visit there twice.
"The court has given a clear verdict, and it is our responsibility to go there [Sandeshkhali], but they were not allowing us to go there. Today I am going there. I came to know that the state government will go to the division bench and if the division bench stays the order, I will stop. We are law-abiding citizens. The police are working as the frontal organisation of TMC," said Adhikari ahead of his visit.
Here are the latest updates on Sandeshkhali row.
1. Ahead of the visit, Adhikari said he and his BJP colleagues feared that the police could stop them from visiting Sandeshkhali and meeting the women who alleged sexual assault and land grabbing by TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh, who is absconding.
2. West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee announced that camps have been set up for the Sandeshkhali victims to come and file their complaints. She described the TMC as a "transparent party" that took action against its leaders.
Calling the BJP a "useless party", Banerjee questioned what steps it had taken against its leaders, including Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing sexual harassment allegations by women wrestlers.
3. Continuing her tirade against the saffron party, the chief minister said, "BJP sends so many committees to West Bengal. But when children are killed in Chopra, why don't they send committees? What kind of politics is this before elections? They create ruckus and nothing else."
4. A delegation led by National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma visited Sandeshkhali and spoke with the victims. She said the situation was "dire" and called for the resignation of Mamata Banerjee and President's Rule in West Bengal.
"After speaking with women in Sandeshkhali, it's clear the situation is dire. Numerous women shared their harrowing experiences, with one even reported being raped inside a TMC party office. We demand President's Rule in West Bengal, which we will also include in our report," Sharma was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
5. The NCW chief's visit and comments triggered an uproar from the TMC, which accused her of echoing BJP's agenda. State minister Shashi Panja questioned Sharma's decision to not visit BJP-ruled states where incidents of gang rape were reported.
"Why didn't she visit Madhya Pradesh's Morena, where a pregnant woman was gang raped and set ablaze? Why didn't the NCW respond when female wrestlers protested against BJP MP's alleged sexual misconduct? Why did the commission ignore complaints of atrocities against women in Manipur?" Panja asked.
6. Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court on Monday granted permission to Suvendu Adhikari to visit Sandeshkhali, who was earlier stopped twice from visiting the area. However, he has been asked not to make "provocative speeches" or engage in any form of "unlawful activity" there.
7. Governor CV Ananda Bose also appealed to parties and people from diverse backgrounds to come together and organise a 'peace visit' to Sandeshkhali to show solidarity with the aggrieved women.
"I appeal to the law-abiding citizenry, civil society leaders, opinion makers and all political parties to unite in a 'peace visit' to Sandeshkhali, to go round the streets there that have been witnessing distrust, scepticism and lawlessness and stand by the law-abiding citizens, and more specifically, the aggrieved women there and tell them the entire country is with them," Bose said.
8. A peace home has also been opened for the Sandeshkhali victims on Raj Bhavan premises in Kolkata. Three rooms have been allotted in the building.
According to Raj Bhavan, any woman in Sandeshkhali who is fearing for her life can come and stay in one of the allotted rooms. Also, accommodation and food will be provided for the victims free of cost.
9. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur slammed the TMC-led Bengal government after a television journalist reporting on the Sandeshkhali violence was taken away by the West Bengal Police.
"Instead of taking action against goons misbehaving with women, the West Bengal government is putting curbs on the media and trying to muzzle freedom of the press. This is very unfortunate," Thakur said on Monday.
10. The Sandeshkhali issue pertains to a large number of women in the locality accusing Sheikh and his supporters of "land-grab and sexually assaulting" them under coercion. Two of Sheikh's aides have been arrested and charged with gang rape and attempt to murder.
Sheikh has been absconding since January 5, when a mob attacked Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers during a raid at his residence in connection with an alleged ration scam.
