Trinamul Organizes Women's Demonstrations in Sandeshkhali to Counter Opposition's Accusations

By organizing women's demonstrations from the war-torn Sunderbans island, Trinamul has developed a counter-narrative to refute the Opposition's accusations of atrocities against women in Sandeshkhali. They claim that the "propaganda" is to blame for their "humiliation".

The governing party of Bengal seemed to be in a frantic attempt to gather a sizable contingent of women for a public gathering on Sunday at the Rampur school field in Bermajur, Sandeshkhali. The gathering was formally scheduled as a lead-up to the party's massive Brigade Parade field mega event on March 10 in Calcutta. However, the main focus of the discussion by Trinamul officials was the need of women's rallies in Sandeshkhali to counter the Opposition's exaggerated accusations of numerous crimes against women committed by leaders of the local governing party.

According to a Trinamul official in Sandeshkhali, the Trinamul leadership wanted local women to come out and assert that they are secure in Sandeshkhali under the protection of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. They also wanted to inform "outsiders" that such accusations are "humiliating" for them.

Trinamul has started laying the foundation to connect with its female followers in the affected region.

At the event, party leader and minister of irrigation Partha Bhowmick stated: "Some things happened in Sandeshkhali. We are not able to be aware of everything. We are not deities. Is it possible for everyone to bear the consequences of one individual's transgressions? There are police cases on file for those (crimes)."

"But it is unfortunate that for such incidents all women are being made to feel humiliated," he said. "I want everyone to speak out if someone from the outside comes to talk negatively about you. You have to order them to cease."

Bhowmick was essentially repeated by party leaders such as Sujit Bose, Nirmal Ghosh, Narayan Goswami, and local Trinamul MLA Sukumar Mahata.

Subsequently, Bhowmick said that it was incorrect to give the idea that all Sandeshkhali women had horrible treatment.

"The women's families are questioning them. He said, "The Opposition has no right to degrade every woman in Sandeshkhali."

According to the CPM and the BJP, Trinamul intended to incite certain Sandeshkhali women to rebel against other women who staged demonstrations against the party's strongmen.

With permission from the Calcutta High Court, a six-member "independent" fact-finding team—who is reportedly pro-BJP—visited three Sandeshkhali villages on Sunday morning.