Addressing a press conference, Lok Sabha MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “What is emerging about the blatant assault, humiliating treatment, and sexual assault of women is a shame on our society and democracy. Mamata Banerjee is still defending it. Why?
Several women in the Sandeshkhali village have leveled allegations of sexual exploitation and land grabbing against TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates.
“Can it happen that people’s land is being grabbed just 75-80km away from Kolkata? What is the SIT formed by Mamata doing? There are strict guidelines by the Supreme Court on the norms for questioning in case of sexual assault… Is the SIT asking questions or insulting them (women)?” Prasad said.
“Mamata, the public will give you an answer for this politically. You will have to pay for it,” he added.
Speaking about the arrest of one journalist in Sandeshkhali, Prasad said, “What is Mamata trying to hide? Why is she trying to hide it? A woman CM is risking the honour of women to save her political reputation. Why? Where is her conscience?”
On Monday, Santu Pan, who works with Republic Bangla channel, was arrested by police in Sandeshkhali while during live reporting. He was booked over allegations of barging into the residence of a local woman, the police said. The arrest drew massive criticism from the Editors Guild of India and journalists’ associations as well as the BJP.
Prasad also hit out at Opposition parties for remaining “silent”. “I heard that a woman leader of the CPI(M) visited the area but the CPI(M) has not opposed it (the incident) officially. Rahul Gandhi who speaks on every issue is silent on this… Sonia Gandhi is silent, Arvind Kejriwal is silent. The sheer hypocrisy of the Opposition is evident.”
Prasad’s remarks come a day after Mamata hit out at the BJP for its “divisive” politics after Bengal BJP leaders allegedly called a Sikh IPS officer “Khalistani”. A video of the incident showed SSP (IB) Jaspreet Singh, a 2016-batch IPS officer, standing in front of BJP leaders, including MLA Agnimitra Paul, and responding angrily and asking them to leave his faith alone.
In a post on X, Mamata said, “The BJP’s divisive politics has shamelessly overstepped constitutional boundaries. As per @BJP4India every person wearing a turban is a Khalistani. I vehemently condemn this audacious attempt to undermine the reputation of our Sikh brothers & sisters, revered for their sacrifices and unwavering determination to our nation. We stand firm in protecting Bengal’s social harmony and will take stern lawful measures to prevent any attempts to disrupt it.”