Activists at a recent protest against the alleged atrocities on women at Sandeshkhali.
| Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri
National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairperson Arun Halder on Friday said the commission has submitted a report to President Droupadi Murmu and recommended imposition of President’s Rule in West Bengal over alleged harassment of women by Trinamool Congress supporters in Sandeshkhali.
“The Commission feels that the administration and criminals are together creating unrest there. We are left with no option but to submit our report to the President which we did today [Friday] at 11 a.m. The report recommends that as per Article 338 of the Constitution, if the State government fails to protect one section of people, President’s Rule can be imposed in the region under such grounds,” Mr. Halder said.
The NCSC chairman said that West Bengal has the second highest population of the Scheduled Castes, and their property and other rights are being taken away forcibly.
Mr. Halder had visited Sandeshkhali a day ago and spoken to the residents, who mostly belong to the Scheduled Castes and other backward communities.
The State BJP leadership, however, is not on the same page with the NCSC. State BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said the BJP does not believe that any elected government should be removed by the imposition of President’s Rule. Not only the West Bengal BJP, but Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also said that he is not in favour of President’s Rule.
‘Bid to polarise people’
Meanwhile, State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the BJP and the Trinamool are trying to create polarisation in the State ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and that nobody will impose President’s Rule in West Bengal.
He added that a similar situation was created ahead of the 2021 Assembly election, resulting in a polarised atmosphere, which benefited both parties electorally.
The Trinamool Congress refuted the statements of the NCSC chairperson. “Every commission has turned into an offshoot of the BJP,” Trinamool Congress spokesperson Santanu Sen said.
Along with the NCSC, a team of the National Commission for Women also visited Sandeshkhali. The West Bengal Police have maintained that “no allegations of rape of women have so far been received”.
The region has been on the boil over allegations of torture and sexual assault of women by local Trinamool Congress leaders. Villagers had later attacked the properties of the Trinamool leaders. The allegations are against Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides, who remain absconding.