NANDIGRAM/MALDA: A three-member National Human Rights Commission team visited
Nandigram
on Wednesday to record complaints of
post-poll violence
in
Bengal
. They first went to Kendamari and then held a formal hearing at the Nandigram-1 Block community hall.
People claimed that a group of around 35 masked men had ransacked their village. “You can read and write, why didn’t you lodge a police complaint?” an
NHRC committee member said to a woman. “What does the government keep police for?”
While most
Trinamool leaders chose not to speak, the party’s Nandigram-1 Block president Swadesh Das said: “BJP has led a very poisonous and divisive campaign in Nandigram. They are still fanning trouble. Post-elections, there have been some isolated incidents against workers of both parties. Police are looking into it.”
Local
BJP leader Pralay Pal said: “The people’s mandate in Nandigram will not be suppressed. We will take our complaints to the NHRC.”
Another NHRC team taking complaints in Kenbona village waded into controversy when it was found accompanied by a local BJP leader. Trinamool district leader Prosenjit Das said: “One BJP leader was with the NHRC team.” Although they denied the allegation, BJP’s Milan Das himself conceded: “I had taken them to our workers’ houses as per the party’s direction.”
The team was led by NHRC vice-chairperson Atif Rasheed. They spoke to Gangaram Mandal, a BJP worker, who was allegedly tortured after the elections. Rasheed told reporters: “We have tried to understand the situation. They are still scared and fear torture after we leave.”
TMC leader Das said: “There was no post-poll violence at all in
Malda
. Rather, in some places our workers were assaulted by BJP goons. NHRC never cared about them.”
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