Tension and Talks: Police Intervention in Sandeshkhali Unveils Two Narratives

Time: 10:30 a.m. on Friday

Place: Sandeshkhali's Bermajur-Kachharipara

What transpired: Ajit Maiti, the local unit secretary of Trinamul, was assaulted by a sizable assemblage of villagers, the most of whom were women, who were equipped with clubs and brooms. In addition to beating Maiti and his wife Lata, the locals damaged his two-wheeler and his home. Twenty minutes later, the locals claimed that the bheri, owned by Trinamul leader Sirajuddin Sheikh, had been erected by stealing agricultural land, and the crowd set fire to its guard room.

Time: 11.50 a.m. on Friday

Place: Sandeshkhali's Bermajur-Kachharipara

What transpired was that ADG Supratim Sarkar of the South Bengal police department hurried to Bermajur-Kachharipara to negotiate with the people who had assaulted the Trinamul leader and his residence.

"The way you have been reacting cannot be the solution," Sarkar said to the people.

If the villagers decided to take the law into their own hands, he threatened to sue them. He assured Maiti that an inquiry would be launched into his charges, but he also promised to look into their grievances compassionately. Sarkar threatened to arrest the Trinamul leader if it became out that he was false.

Two narratives emerged from the incidents in Sandeshkhali on Friday: first, the troubled area will burn for some time; and second, the state government is determined to establish the rule of law and will not hold back when taking severe action against those who dare break the law.

Simultaneously, governing party officials were warned by the two most senior police officers—DGP Rajeev Kumar, who was on his third visit to Sandeshkhali—that they would face prosecution if widespread accusations of land grabbing and other crimes proved to be true.

A desperate state government chose to maximize the role of DGP Rajeev Kumar and ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar in order to gain the trust of the villagers as things in Sandeshkhali, where protests against local Trinamul leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his two aides, Shibaprasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, started to spiral out of control and police struggled to establish the rule of law in the area.

"In Sandeshkhali, the North 24-Parganas police are not very credible. Police have been accused by the populace of working in collusion with the Trinamul leaders. The state government was forced to para-troop Kumar and Sarkar in Bengal's most politically charged area in light of the fact that the situation was steadily getting out of hand and that opposition parties were stoking unrest in anticipation of the Lok Sabha elections, according to a senior police official.

The administration appeared to be attempting to put on a strong show while demonstrating sympathy for the irate villagers and promising them justice, as evidenced by the decision to send the two senior lawkeepers to Sandeshkhali and send them unusually quickly to Bermajur-Kachharipara, where the villagers turned violent and attacked Maiti's house.

Gaining the trust of the locals and sending a message that illegal activity would be met with harsh consequences, therefore refraining from such crimes, were the two main goals of Friday's operation. In order to back up his claims, the ADG called North 24-Parganas district magistrate Sharad Kumar Dwivedi on the phone. He asked the judge to help with the process of hearing the villagers' grievances and to restore their land parcels if they had been taken from them.

"Ignore what was formerly. We'll start reviewing your concerns right now. Kindly get back to your residences. You all get justice, I promise. Everyone is treated equally under the law. If you are found guilty of any crime, you will face consequences. Angry locals outside of Maity's house, who claimed innocence, were warned by Sarkar, "You cannot take law in your hands."

"Legal action will also be taken against your husband if he has committed any crime and at the same time action will be taken against those who attacked you," the ADG stated, addressing Maiti's wife Lata.

According to a senior police official in Basirhat, the police have chosen not to use force at this time. Instead, it has made the strategic decision to approach the matter with a blend of prudence and compassion.

In an attempt to contain the public outburst of Sandeshkhali, DGP Kumar came dangerously close to expressing the administration's plan to blow hot and cold.

An under-construction chicken farm that Sandeshkhali locals vandalized on Thursday. It was Shibaprasad Hazra's farm.
An under-construction chicken farm was vandalized on Thursday by Sandeshkhali locals. It was Shibaprasad Hazra's farm.
Image courtesy of Sanat Kr Sinha
Kumar, who had returned to Bermajur village to meet demonstrators, remarked, "Apander jodi oshubidhe thake, abhijog thake, apnara amader janaben," urging the people not to take "law in their hands." Amra korbo byabostha. Aayin nijer hathe neben kintu jodi tahole oshubidhe ache. (Please report any issues or grievances you may have to us. We are going to do something. But there's an issue if you decide to enforce the law on your own.

He went on to say that any complaints will be accepted at the camps established up by the authorities.

The question, "Shotheek hobe to Sir (Will that really happen, Sir)?" was heard by one of the locals.

"Ekdom hobe (It will absolutely happen)," Kumar retorted.

Kumar ordered the cops escorting him to record the villager's complaint and take down his phone number, giving him the assurance that his complaints would be investigated. Additionally, he instructed his officers to "keep our word."

Kumar stated: "We all have to establish the rule of law" before departing for Calcutta. The rule of law does not give me the authority to wrong somebody just because I have been mistreated. We must adhere to protocols. Some individuals oppose solving issues that affect regular people. Such areas are where they manufacture false issues. We are able to distinguish between arson committed intentionally and arson motivated by the rage of the average person.

He said, "We are accepting," when asked whether there had been any oversight on the part of the government. An error occurred. We'll put the legislation into effect.

If the residents' attitude is any guide, the police want peace to return to Sandeshkhali, but this will not be a simple assignment. A villager justified their explosion of rage by saying, "We have shown our patience for too long," in reference to Maiti and Shahjahan's brother Sirajuddin, whose guard room at a bheri was set on fire on Friday. When people like Shahjahan, Siraj Maity, Uttam, and Shibu stole our land, defrauded us of money, and raped our women for years, where were the police? They served as the Trinamul goons' operatives. Now is our moment, and we won't stop until we've done ourselves right.

After Friday's violent episode, the police continued the process of restoring land that had been unlawfully seized from locals by Shahjahan and his henchmen while also enforcing Section 144 of the CrPC in some sections of Sandeshkhali, realizing that the work at hand was difficult.

"Some individuals have regained their property over the last two days, but if this violence persists, we will have to prioritize addressing the law and order situation. Speaking to a gathering of peasants, Sarkar advised them to focus only on the present if they wanted a solution.

Sukumar Mahata, a Trinamul MLA, described the police's involvement as "very positive" but reiterated that the majority of the accusations made against the party's leaders were false.

"A closer look will reveal the truth," he said.

A BJP politician in Basirhat reacted to the unexpectedly assertive presence of senior police officials in Sandeshkhali by saying, "Mamata Banerjee has deployed police to protect the goons." To get them to halt their anger, she is threatening them with the police. The government is not going to be successful.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.