As Islamists unleash violence against Hindus in Murshidabad, here’s how even after 14 months, women in Sandeshkhali continue to live in Sheikh Shahjahan’s terror

Murshidabad violence has again brought the lawless state of West Bengal into the news. The Muslim-dominated Murshidabad district has witnessed large-scale incidents of violence, vandalism, arson and targeted attacks against the Hindu community on Friday (11th April) in the garb of protests against the newly enacted Waqf Amendment Act. In the Trinamool Congress-ruled state, Hindus have been at the mercy of the party goons and Muslim criminals who enjoy the patronage of the ruling party.

The forgotten misery of Sandeshkhali women

Islamists have inflicted a fresh wound on Bengali Hindus in Murshidabad, while those of women (mostly Hindu), in Sandeshkhali, are yet to heal. In February 2024, several areas in Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal witnessed massive protests mainly by women. These women demanded the arrest of TMC leader and Mamata Banerjee’s close aide Sheikh Shahjahan and two other TMC workers, Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, believed to be close to Shahjahan.

Hundreds of women residents of Sandeshkhali had come out on the streets with brooms, sticks and farming tools and blocked the roads. These women alleged that married Hindu women from the area are picked up, based on how young and pretty they are, and are violated night after night till the TMC men are “satisfied”. The husbands of these women were also threatened and told that they have no “right” over their wives. If they attempt to stop the exploitation of the women, they are mercilessly beaten.

The incident sparked a nationwide outrage, especially after West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee downplayed Sandeshkhali rape cases passing them off as ‘minor incident’. It must be called that 19 cases were registered against the accused TMC leaders last year. After a high-voltage drama, TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh and other accused persons were arrested and are currently in jail. However, the agony of the women of Sandeskhali has not subsided even after 14 months.

While Shahjahan Sheikh languishes in jail, his terror thrives in Sandeshkhali

Sandeskhali has become an epicenter of miseries of all sorts, including an inconducive environment for farming, poverty, dug up roads, dried up ponds and helplessness of the victims of Sheikh Shahjahan and his accomplices, a detailed report by Dainik Bhaskar recently found. Speaking to Dainik Bhaskar, one of the victims who filed a sexual harassment case against Sheikh Shahjahan said that women in Sandeshkhali are still living in fear and helplessness. She alleged that the victims are still receiving threat calls from unidentified individuals.

When asked about what all happened in the last one year, one of the complainants, Vasanti [name changed], told Bhaskar, ‘When the movement took place last year, I was a part of it. Shahjahan Sheikh had an evil eye on us women. He used to call us to his office. He and his companions used to rape women. I had also filed a complaint against him. Since then, I am being harassed. I still get threatening calls. I don’t know who these people are. One of them is called Amjadul Sardar. He is not a resident of Sandeshkhali. He comes here from Kharampur and lives here.”

“He [Amjadul Sardar] says that his grandfather’s house is here. He comes here sometimes. He threatens me that you did not do the right thing by filing a rape case against Shahjahan Sheikh and his associates. He threatens to kill me. They are from the group of Shibu Hazra and Aamir Shahjahan,” Vasanti added.

When Vasanti is asked how much life has changed after Shahjahan went to jail, she replies, “There has been some difference. Now we can go out of the house without fear. My husband and elder son work in Gujarat. I live with my younger son. When I get threats, I feel a little scared. No leader of any party comes here to help.”

Meanwhile, Piyali [name changed], a resident of Sandeshkhali, told Dainik Bhaskar that she was the one who started the campaign against Shahjahan Sheikh. After this, she got help from BJP leaders. She said, “Earlier, people could not even ask each other about their well-being while standing at the tea stall. There was a lot of fear. Now the situation is fine, but in Mamata Banerjee’s government, Shahjahan Sheikh is threatening people even while sitting in jail. Our friend Rubin Mandal’s family lives here, across the river. They had a vegetable market, which Shahjahan Sheikh usurped two years ago and got it registered in his name. His family still gets threats that the day you come out, we will deal with you. This threat is given by a goon named Mastan. He is Shahjahan’s henchman.”

“Shahjahan Sheikh’s gang is still active. I still get a lot of threats on social media. All these come from fake IDs,” Piyali added.

“I was framed in a false case. I was in jail for about 7 days. I was accused of getting women to sign blank white papers. At that time, Rekha Sharma, who was the chairperson of the Women’s Commission, had come. I was with her team. I told her that many women tried to file a police complaint against Shibu Hazra and Shahjahan Sheikh, but the police drove them away. Then Rekha Sharma made me her translator and took me to the police station. I was just standing with her, and I was falsely accused of getting false statements written by women on a blank paper. However, I was acquitted by the court. I was supported by BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in this,” she continued.

Another victim, Joshna Das alleged that Sheikh Shahjahan and Shibu Hazra have inflicted countless atrocities on women and the latter has even allegedly usurped her 7.5 Bigha land. She claimed that two years ago, Hazra wanted to grab her land and when her family confronted him, the accused got her elder son killed. She further accused Sheikh Shahjahan of forcing her family to work on their field, however, would not pay them.

A local resident said that the villagers in Sandeshkhali have built a small Shiva temple in a hut, however, they want to construct a proper temple. She added that till Sheikh Shahjajan was out of jail, Hindus were not able to celebrate their festivals or hold fairs (Melas). Besides, the locals told Bhaskar that the BJP, which relentlessly raised the plight of Sandeshkhali women last year, has stopped raising the matter with same intensity. The BJP, however, asserted that they have not forgotten Sandeshkhali and would continue to raise the matter alongside the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case.

Such a deplorable state of women in West Bengal is not shocking given that the TMC leaders, time and again, expose their misogynistic mindset. In April 2024, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Satabdi Roy said that the beneficiaries of West Bengal government schemes are chosen based on the ‘beauty’ of their wives. “Only those people whose wives look beautiful will get the money from the government schemes. Those individuals who do not have beautiful wives will not receive any benefits. They had told me this clearly,” Roy said.

Not to forget, Mamata Banerjee herself as a opprobrious record of downplaying rape cases not once but on multiple occasions.  The West Bengal government’s insensitivity in rape cases peaked in the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case, wherein even the Supreme Court criticized the negligence of state authorities in registering FIR and taking action.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who has a pathological fixation with fighting the ‘Kafirs’ (non-Muslims, infidels) has long been mollycoddling Islamists and going out of the way to keep her Muslim votebank content. Muslim mobs have been organising violent demonstrations in different parts of West Bengal against the recently implemented Waqf Act, which has been portrayed as an ant-Muslim law by several Muslim leaders as well as opposition parties, including the TMC.

Amidst the ongoing violence in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has voiced her opinion in support of Muslims agitating against the Waqf Act. The state’s top leader voicing her unconditional support to protesting Muslims emboldened them to an extent that Hindus are being attacked by Muslim mobs ‘protesting’ against the Waqf Act, and many local Hindus have been forced to flee. Although arrests have been made, the situation would not have worsened if the state government had not decided to extend support to the Islamists. This blatant Muslim appeasement at the cost of sidelining and sacrificing Hindu lives, however, has been the signature of TMC’s three consecutive terms in power.

OpIndia has reported several incidents wherein the state government demonstrated its blatant favouritism towards Muslims and disdain towards Hindus. Earlier this month, the Calcutta High Court granted permission to Hindu outfit ‘Anjani Putra Sena’ to carry out a Ram Navami procession in Howrah after the Mamata government raised objections against it. CM Banerjee had claimed that those who participate in Ram Navami processions have a tendency to riot.

It was reported in 2023 that a Durga Mandir was found blocked and barricaded in Kaliachak town in Malda district of West Bengal. The development came a day before the Islamic month of Muharram. Before this, CM Banerjee imposed restrictions on the immersion of Durga idols in 2016 and 2017 to make way for Muharram processions. Such blatant Muslim appeasement and discrimination against Hindus, however, is not shocking since TMC leader and a Cabinet Minister in the state government, Firhad Hakim, derided non-Muslims as ‘unfortunate’ and openly called for their religious conversion to Islam. Not to forget, in ‘Mamata raj’, the people of West Bengal have also seen Shariah court-like ‘Insaf Sabha’ wherein a TMC linked Tajemul Haque, brutally assaults a woman in public and the TMC MLA Hamidul Rahman justifies this Taliban-style flogging by saying that there are some ‘codes’ in a ‘Muslim Rashtra’. 

From the 2021 Vidhan Sabha election, 2023 Panchayat election and 2024 Lok Sabha election, to now in anti-Waqf agitation in Murshidabad, the local Hindus are paying the price of the ruling government’s Muslim appeasement and an undeclared free hand to Islamists to run riots and attack Hindus under the garb of protesting against Waqf Act.

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