A Trinamool Congress strongman is accused of sexually exploiting an entire village in Bengal. Since it’s election time, the horror has become a political lightning rod—with the Opposition parties gunning for Mamata. But the state has a sordid history of sexual violence involving political parties—irrespective of who is in power.
Content warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual violence that can be difficult to read.
First tell me about this Sandeshkhali…
Sandeshkhali is an island in the Sundarbans—around 75 km from Kolkata. It is a Trinamool stronghold—and dominated by Muslims (30%), Dalits (30%) and Adivasis (26%). The local MP is the Bengali film star Nusrat Jahan—who is almost never in her constituency.
The real man in charge: is a Trinamool minister named Jyoti Priya Mallick. He has put a number of strongmen (the polite term for thugs) in charge of various areas—including Sandeshkhali. Many of these men seem to be Muslims—who are lording it over a marginalised population.
Fine, now tell me what happened…
The ED raid: It all starts with the Enforcement Directorate targeting Mallick in a ration scam case. Mallick is accused of pilfering food grains meant for the poor—to the tune of over Rs 4.5 billion (450 crore). He was arrested last year on corruption charges—and finally sacked from his job on February 17.
The ED has also been raiding Mallick’s key supporters—including the local ‘strongman’ in Sandeshkhali: TMC member Sheikh Shahjahan. But when they tried to enter Shahjahan’s home on January 5, the officials were instead assaulted by his goons—and chased away. Shahjahan and two of his aides soon went on the run.
The allegations of sexual violence: Emboldened by Shahjahan’s absence, women in the village came forward with stories of sexual violence. These include specific allegations of gang rape against Shahjahan and two of his men: Uttam Sardar and Shibaprasad Hazra—who are also TMC leaders. But the accusations go far, far beyond rape. Here’s how one woman describes Shahjahan’s reign of terror:
Party (TMC) men would survey every home and if there was any beautiful woman, primarily a young wife or a girl, they would take them to the party office. They will keep that woman there night after night till they are satisfied.
Here’s another account:
They brought me into the party office, where a group of people were drinking. For the next one and half days, two of them tortured me in the party office itself. I was told that my husband would not ‘take me back’ after this and so I should stay on with the men in the room – that they would give me a government job eventually. They said they would place my husband’s severed head on my palms if I complained about what they had done to me.
Point to note: The sexual abuse was but one of many forms of exploitation:
For the past few years, we've been robbed of our dignity. When the men in our families protested, TMC cadres and police mercilessly beat them up. Farmland was captured without farmers’ consent and turned into fisheries. No one got any compensation. Even allowances and money for working for government projects were forcibly taken away from us,
And what’s happened to these men now?
Here’s a quick recap of a tumultuous week:
- On February 8—soon after the raids—the villagers led by the women staged angry protests. They also burned down poultry farms owned by Hazra.
- The Bengal government used this as an excuse to slap Section 144 on the area—which bans all assemblies of large groups.
- On February 13, Calcutta High Court stepped in to both order a probe—and to set aside the Section 144 order.
- The local police also have done their best to block opposition leaders and members of national commissions for women and scheduled castes.
Where is Shahjahan? Despite claims that the police has launched a manhunt, he is still missing for over a month—a situation that even the High Court finds astonishing: “It could mean that the state police machinery doesn't have the wherewithal to secure him or (he) is outside the jurisdiction of the state police.” His lieutenant Hazra, however, is in custody.
Is this going to be big in the Lok Sabha elections?
Let’s start with Mamata: She has been a political disaster. Banerjee has done her best to deflect blame to the BJP—which she accuses of trying to incite a riot. Here’s how slow the government was to respond:
On February 15, when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee finally addressed the Sandeshkhali unrest, she had attributed it to external interference. Many of her critics had noted that she was practically giving a clean chit to Sheikh Shahjahan and his two aides Uttam Sardar and Sibu Hazra. Dismissing the protests as opposition-driven, CM Banerjee accused BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of fomenting trouble in the area. Till February 17, the state government and the ruling party had largely been in denial mode and maintained that the sexual assault and rape allegations were unsubstantiated.
As for the Opposition: All parties—including Congress and CPI(M)—have attacked Banerjee—no doubt with an eye toward the Lok Sabha elections. Reminder: The CM broke with the INDIA alliance—and announced her intention to contest the seats alone. OTOH, the BJP has been the loudest—and made the most outlandish demands. The BJP-appointed chief of the National Commission for Women asked for Banerjee’s resignation—and the imposition of president’s rule. Of course, the Muslim angle reared its ugly head—with cabinet minister Smriti Irani alleging that “Hindu women are being raped” in the area.
As for the elections: There is genuine fear among the Trinamool ranks that the BJP will use this incident to establish support among Dalit communities. The RSS has been building its presence in the area. But the biggest worry: the anger of women—who have been the bedrock for Mamata’s support. Then again, so have the Muslims—who are already unhappy with her—and are in danger of decamping to the alliance between Congress and the Communists.
Key point to note: Setting aside party politics, there is no doubt that Shahjahan and his men ruled Sandeshkhali like their personal fiefdom. Even their election to the panchayat was rigged:
While Uttam won uncontested, Shahjahan and Sibu received 99.9% and 98% of total votes in the latest panchayat polls. Many believe that such figures indicate irregularities in the voting process rather than the mass support they command.
And they did so with the unstated support of the party leadership—at least that of Mallick.
Is this specifically a Trinamool problem?
Unfortunately, West Bengal has long and bloody history of political violence—and sexual abuse has often been wielded as a weapon by the party in charge.
The CPI(M): was notorious for using rape to punish political rivals—and even to settle feuds between party leaders. When in power—until 2011—it was near-routine for its leaders to be named in allegations of rape—involving minors, tribal women and others. And just like Mamata, its leadership dismissed each allegation as a conspiracy cooked up by the Opposition—which often was Trinamool (oh the irony).
The Nandigram horror: Between 2006 and 2008, Banerjee spearheaded a grassroots movement against the CPI(M) government’s plan to use their land to set up a free economic zone. The police responded with unconscionable brutality. In 2008, at least 47 women were raped when police and CPI(M) goons marched into the area to forcibly break down the blockades.
Point to note: Mamata used rape to her political advantage—deploying it to advance her career:
Ms. Banerjee rode to power partly by exploiting cases of rape in West Bengal. She first became a major actor in Congress politics when she took a woman with speech and hearing disabilities to Writers Building, saying the woman had been raped. She was thrown out for her pains, becoming a political martyr of sorts, given her status at that time. Again, at the time of the Singur agitation, the rape and murder of Tapasi Malik was exploited to the hilt by Ms. Banerjee, all the way to the electoral victory of 2011.
Trinamool terror: Banerjee has done very little to stop her party workers from continuing the Communist tradition of sexual violence. After the state elections in 2022, Trinamool workers brutally attacked BJP karyakartas—and voters who voted for a different party. A Supreme Court petition filed by one of the women offered this description of the assault:
On May 4 around midnight at 12.30 am, five persons who were party workers of the Trinamool Congress came to the applicant’s house and forced their way in...The applicant was slapped, beaten, handcuffed and ties to her bed, as the criminals forced themselves on her.
The bottomline: The father of one of many victims says, “Political leaders provoke their cadres to assault women. For them, it is the ultimate weapon to threaten and silence people.” Rape is a perk of power. No wonder Shahjahan believed that he and his men were immune. Sandeshkhali isn’t an exception in Bengal. It is far more often the rule—in Bengal, and perhaps across India.
Reading list
For an overview of Sandeshkhali, check out The Print and Hindustan Times. The Economist looks at why the politics of West Bengal are so violent. The Wire has the best ground report from Sandeshkhali—including testimonies of the women. Times of India and Hindustan Times have profiles of Shahjahan Sheikh. Indian Express and The Wire focus on the politics of the case—and what it means for Trinamool. The Telegraph reports on the land grab in Sandeshkhali.
