Sandeshkhali incident shameful, fury of women will reach every part of Bengal: Modi
Addressing a gathering of women in Barasat, Modi said the ruling TMC government was least concerned about the safety of women and was busy protecting the accused in the Sandeshkhali case
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (March 6) said the “storm of Sandeshkhali” will reach every part of West Bengal, asserting that 'Nari Shakti' (woman power) will play a pivotal role in decimating the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state.
The riverine island of Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district has been on the boil over allegations of sexual atrocities on women and land grabbing by suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his cohorts.
Modi while addressing the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Abhinandan’ programme in Bengal’s Barasat said whatever happened with the women in Sandeshkhali “is a matter of shame”.
‘TMC protecting the accused’
Addressing thousands of women who gathered for the event, Modi lashed out at the ruling party, accusing it of protecting the accused.
“Under the Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s rule, the women of this land have been tortured. Whatever happened in Sandeshkhali will put anyone to shame but the TMC government does not care about your issues. TMC is putting efforts to protect the accused of the people of Bengal. The state government has got a shock from the High Court as well as the Supreme Court. TMC leaders have done atrocities on the women of the state. TMC has full confidence in their leader but not in the women of West Bengal..." he said.
The prime minister said the anger of the women of Bengal will reach every part of the state, and decimate the TMC.
“TMC government can never provide protection to women. The BJP government, on the other hand, has decided to award life imprisonment for heinous crimes like rape. For easy registration of women's complaints, we have come up with a women’s helpline, but the TMC government is not letting it operate in West Bengal. This government can never work for the welfare of women,” the prime minister said.
PM’s rebuttal to Lalu’s ‘family’ jibe
Modi also took swipes at the INDIA alliance, referring to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s recent remark on his family.
“Seeing NDA forming its government in the Centre, the INDI Alliance has begun to shake now. They have started hurling abuses at me now. They are asking about my family. They're saying I talk against 'parivarvad' (dynasty politics) because I don't have a family. These people want to know about my family. I want these 'parivarvadis' to witness our gathering and understand that all the people present here are my family," he said.
Yadav in his speech at the Jan Vishwas Maha Rally on Sunday had said that Modi was against families because he himself doesn’t have one. The RJD chief also said that the prime minister wasn’t a true Hindu as he didn’t tonsure his head when his mother passed away.
Bengal govt vs CBI
Sheikh was arrested by the West Bengal Police on February 29 in connection with the attack on ED officials.
The state government, however, has refused to hand over Sheikh to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) despite an order by the Calcutta High Court to do so. The government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court’s order.
On Wednesday, the high court, after hearing a petition by CBI, asked the government to hand over the custody of Sheikh to the CBI by 4.15 pm.
