Murshidabad: Governor, NCW team meet more victims; TMC doubts panel’s neutrality

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Saturday (April 19) met the family members of a man and his son who were killed during violence over anti-Waqf Act protests in Murshidabad district, and assured them of all possible support.

The bodies of the two — identified as Harogobindo Das and Chandan Das — were found in their house in Jafrabad locality in Shamsherganj with multiple stab wounds.

“I will look into your requests. There are three to four suggestions. They have asked for BSF postings in the locality. I will take up the matter with the appropriate authorities. Some proactive action will definitely be taken. I have also shared with them the Peace Room number (Raj Bhavan helpline),” Bose told reporters after visiting their residence.

Governor meets affected families

The family members of the deceased were seen falling to the governor’s feet, pleading for justice. Later, after speaking to locals in Dhulian Bazar area, Bose said, “I have asked them (the victims) to feel free to talk to me. They want justice, and they will get justice,” he asserted.

Also read: Protest over Murshidabad violence: BJP workers clash with police in Balurghat

On Friday (April 18), despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s request to postpone his visit, Bose visited Malda and met the people who have taken shelter in a temporary refugee camp after fleeing the violence-hit areas of Murshidabad district.

Bose is also scheduled to visit other strife-torn places in Dhulian, Suti, and Jangipur in the district.

Governor promises “proactive action”

At least three persons, including the father and son, died and over 274 were arrested in connection with violence over the anti-Waqf (Amendment) Act protests that engulfed these Muslim-majority areas from April 8-12.

Before starting his journey for Shamsherganj, Bose spoke to members of some affected families at a guest house in Farakka, the official said.

He assured all the families that “proactive action” would be taken to address their grievances.

NCW in Murshidabad

A delegation of the National Commission for Women (NCW), led by its chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar, also met riot-hit people in Murshidabad on Saturday and assured them that the Centre would take necessary steps to ensure their safety.

Also read: Bengal Governor defies Mamata, meets Murshidabad riot victims

The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), however, questioned the NCW’s neutrality, accusing it of functioning as a “political wing of the BJP”. During the visit, affected women shared their harrowing experiences from the recent communal violence, which claimed three lives.

They demanded the establishment of permanent BSF camps in select areas and called for an NIA probe into the clashes.

Villagers demonstrate

Rahatkar said, “I am dumbfounded by the agony these women are having to suffer. What they went through during the violence is beyond imagination.” The NCW chief assured the victims that there was “no cause for worry”, as the Centre is with you.

“We have come here to see your plight. Please don’t worry. The country and the commission are with you. Don’t think that you are alone,” Rahatkar told the victims at Betbona village.

During the governor’s visit, a section of villagers in Betbona staged a demonstration, putting up road blockades demanding that the governor, whose convoy had left the place, return and listen to them.

Bose subsequently went back to Betbona, held a discussion with the villagers and pacified them, an official told news agency PTI.

Villagers with placards

Many of the riot-affected women broke down in tears during their interactions with the NCW team.

The villagers were seen holding placards that displayed messages such as “We don’t want Lakshmir Bhandar, we want BSF camp. We want security”.

Also read: NHRC team meets people from violence-hit Murshidabad in Malda camp

“We are under attack”, read another placard. “We demand resignation of chief minister for her failure to protect us”, said another placard.

“Situation is extremely distressing”

NCW member Archana Majumdar told reporters that the Commission would report the women’s demands to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, especially regarding the deployment of BSF camps in the area.

BJP MLA Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, who was accompanying the NCW team, told PTI Videos, “This is my constituency, Dakshin Malda. I have been contesting from here for the past 12 years, and what I have seen this time is unprecedented. I had never seen violence on such a scale here in the last 12 years.”

The NCW team also visited the Dhulian area of Murshidabad district and a relief camp in Malda district on Friday and met those displaced by the Murshidabad riots.

“From what we’ve seen so far, the situation is extremely distressing. We can feel their pain and sufferings,” the NCW chief said.

TMC questions NCW neutrality

Slamming the NCW’s visit, the TMC raised serious questions about the commission’s neutrality and political motivations behind its narrative against Bengal.

Also read: TMC Murshidabad unit urges MP Yusuf Pathan to visit violence-hit district

The party’s Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale said NCW member Archana Majumdar, who has been prominently featured in media reports talking about the visit, is a “card-carrying BJP worker” who contested the 2021 Bengal elections on a BJP ticket before losing the race.

“What Modi’s PR agency won’t tell you is that this ‘NCW member’ Archana Majumdar contested the 2021 Bengal elections on a BJP ticket and lost. She’s an active, card-carrying BJP worker,” Gokhale said, adding, “NCW has long been a political wing of the BJP. And they aren’t even good at hiding it.”

Sandeshkhali repeat?

TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh drew parallels to previous NCW visits to the state, particularly to Sandeshkhali, claiming they followed a familiar pattern of spreading misinformation.

“When NCW visited Sandeshkhali the last time, that is when propaganda and misinformation began. The then-NCW chief Rekha Sharma and her team had designed anti-Bengal narratives to defame the state in multiple ways. They are now repeating the same playbook in Murshidabad.”

VHP protest in Nagpur

During the day, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) held a protest in Nagpur condemning the violence in Murshidabad and sought President’s Rule in the state.

Also read: 'Focus on your minorities': India slams Bangladesh's remark on Bengal violence

During their protest at Variety Square in Sitabuldi here, VHP and Bajrang Dal workers sloganeered against the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal and urged Hindus to unite.

“The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal must be dismissed and President’s Rule should be imposed there. We are staging protests across the country,” VHP Nagpur Mantri Amol Thakre told reporters.

(With agency inputs)