Kolkata, (Samajweekly) With the West Bengal government mulling over moving the court challenging the allegations levelled against several Trinamool Congress leaders in the report submitted to Calcutta High Court by the National Human Rights Commission on post-poll violence in the state, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar left for Delhi on Saturday amid speculation that he might have a detailed discussion with Home Minister Amit Shah on the NHRC report.
The Governor’s move came a couple of days after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met him and had a detailed discussion for nearly two hours.
The Governor’s visit to the national capital assumes significance because he might have a discussion with Home Minister Amit Shah on the NHRC report which was recently submitted to the court.
In its final report submitted to the Calcutta High Court, the NHRC not only criticised the state for its ‘indifference’ towards the post-poll violence and ‘apathy’ towards the victims, but also alleged that the state machinery played an important role in the violence.
“The situation in the state of West Bengal is a manifestation of ‘law of ruler’, instead of ‘Rule of Law’,” the report said.
The rights body also made it clear that the violent incidents in the state reflected the ‘appalling apathy’ of the state government towards the plight of the victims.
In the 50-page report, the NHRC said, “The spatio-temporal expanse of violent incidents in the state of West Bengal reflects the appalling apathy of the state government towards the plight of the victims. This was retributive violence by supporters of the ruling party against supporters of the main opposition party. It resulted in disruption of life and livelihood of thousands of people and their economic strangulation. The local police have been grossly derelict, if not complicit, in this violence.”
Commenting on the Governor’s visit to Delhi, BJP leader Shamik Banerjee said, “How would we know why he went to Delhi? The Chief Minister had a closed-door meeting with him for two hours and after that he went to Delhi. It is also possible that he went to Delhi because of that. The Governor is the head of the state and it is expected that he will meet the Chief Minister, the Prime Minister and the President for the development of the state.”
Meanwhile, the state is also mulling to move the court challenging the NHRC report where several Trinamool Congress leaders have been labelled as ‘criminals/goons’ for the post-poll violence in the state.
In the annexure ‘K’ attached to the original report submitted before the HC, the NHRC has labelled 102 persons across 16 broad regions of Bengal, including state minister Jyotipriya Mullick, prominent leader and former MLA from Coochbehar Udyaan Guha, Naihati MLA Partha Bhowmick, Canning East MLA Saokat Molla, Trinamool’s South 24 Parganas youth leader Jahangir Khan, former councillor Jiban Saha and CM Mamata Banerjee’s chief election agent in Nandigram Sheikh Sufiyan under the list of “notorious criminals/goons”.
“I am shocked. I believe the report is fabricated and a deliberate attempt to malign our party’s image. I don’t know why and from where the NHRC collected such information against me. There is no complaint or FIR lodged against the leaders with any police station across Bengal as well as in India. We are taking legal opinion and we might move the Calcutta High Court and if needed, we will move the Supreme Court,” said a senior Trinamool Congress leader.
When asked about it, Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, said, “They are shameless. The Chief Minister has been fined Rs five lakh. Let them go wherever they want. I also want them to go to the Supreme Court.”
