Verses&Voices | Published 14/07/2024 | Written By Utkarsh Yadav
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CPI(M) Leader Mohammed Salim had shared a video of a man and woman(allegedly a couple) being assaulted, and publicly thrashed with sticks by a local Trinamool Congress goon with the name Tajemul Haque, who goes by the nickname ‘JCB’, on 28th of June, 2024. The horrific incident occurred on the street in Ghemtagach village within the Lakhimpur Gram Panchayat of West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district. The video, a true testament to the worsening conditions of democracy under TMC rule, has been doing rounds on social media and has sparked outrage countrywide over the Taliban-like kangaroo courts being held in Bengal.
The pair were punished on the grounds that Sultana had to pay a fine for getting married again. Tajemul used to be the head of the Kangaroo court, where he was allegedly subjected to swift trial and punishment similar to the Taliban. The victim was mandated to provide Tajemul Rs. 2 lakh and her ex-husband Rs. 3 lakh. Sultana allegedly told the kangaroo court that she didn’t have the money to pay, according to witnesses. Enraged by Sultana’s reply, Tajemul vowed to use violence in retaliation, accusing her of insulting him. Tajemul beat the woman for almost an hour starting at 12:30 p.m. Some bystanders said that Rajiv was also beaten. According to the locals, the couple was taken to a hospital while unconscious by police from the Chopra police station, who came around four or five hours after the incident. They are currently receiving therapy.
The incident garnered national attention, and shortly after, the accused, JCB, was taken into custody. However, why the police did not make an arrest when they were only a few meters away from the offender during the crime remains a mystery. According to TV9 Bangla, a green jeep belonging to a police patrol has been seen in the footage at a relatively close distance. The vehicle has two words inscribed on its wind sheet; the first word remains a mystery but the second is surely “Patrol”. Does the police’s fear stem from the TMC goon? Yes, the police did make hints shortly after the arrest that the security of the police station may be in jeopardy. Even the individual is facing security threats.
Tajemul is allegedly the right-hand man of Chopra MLA Hamidur Rahman, who has denied the claims of being associated with the goon, but interestingly, has batted for him in his statements to the media about the incident. He told reporters that the woman seen in the video is an ‘evil beast’. “We condemn the incident. But the woman also did wrong. She left her husband, son, and daughter and became an evil beast. There is some code and justice according to Muslim Rashtra. However, we do agree that what happened was a bit extreme. Now, legal action will be taken in this case,” he said. His statements have also sparked controversy, especially over the remarks calling the woman an “evil beast” and justifying such punishments as a form of justice in the so-called “Muslim Rashtra”. BJP IT Cell chief, Amit Malviya has strongly condemned these statements calling for the arrest of the MLA.
The TMC has been trying hard to get themselves out of this controversy, and one of the members has even tweeted saying no politician shall comment on this issue but a political misconduct requires a political and legal response, plus the case is not as simple as it sounds, as similar incidents have appeared in Bengal before; in 2018, a girl married a 21-year-old carpenter. The girl in the village was harassed by thugs on a regular basis, as per the mother’s statement. When the victim went to get water from a nearby tubewell on November 27, some guys in the hamlet made crude and sexual remarks about her and threatened to take her to the community’s Kangaroo court if she didn’t comply. To which the girl had turned down. That same day, at 9:30 PM, the “court” took place. Sheikh Ashraf Ali served as secretary and Sheikh Rabiul Mullick was the local headman. It was said that the girl had to do 25 sit-ups as punishment. Being unable to do more than nine or ten of them, she was met with strikes to her stomach and thrashes before being unconscious. The girl was discovered to be pregnant and to have experienced a miscarriage when the villagers hurried her to the nearby hospital.
These kinds of incidents have continued, with more than six lynchings and thrashings taking place in Bengal in just 11 days including the incident on June 28, including beating a female senior citizen with shoes which led to her demise, furthermore, on 27th June, in Hooghly’s Pandua area, a young man named Ashish Baul Das was brutally assaulted following a minor bike accident. Six people lost their lives, and a few of them just for a “suspicion” over mobile theft.
The Centre has shown no interest in taking any serious action against the Mamta Banerjee government in Bengal, despite the BJP’s strong condemnation of the incident. Citizens and Netizens from all over India have been calling for President Rule to overthrow the TMC regime due to a plethora of wrongdoings, ranging from the murder of opposition leaders and Sandeshkhali horror to the manipulation of polls and Kangaroo Courts serving justice. While Rahul Gandhi, the recently appointed Leader of the Opposition, has been seen carrying the Constitution for a while, he hasn’t addressed or commented on this vicious and brutal assault on the document. Mahua Moitra, a TMC MP, referred to the Parliament as the “Kangaroo Court” but said nothing about the Kangaroo Courts that are held in West Bengal. Furthermore, it appears that saviours of secularism who have denounced even the idea of a Hindu Rashtra have overlooked the situation in which an MLA hints his seat to be a “Muslim Rashtra.” It seems like West Bengal needs some serious attention soon or we could in no time be looking at a mini Afghanistan growing inside of India.
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Written By- Utkarsh Yadav
Well researched and documented, writing is organised and coherent, these types of incidents are a ” new normal” in the state of WB, the recent case of one tmc neta Jayant Singh is one of them, in west bengal it is the clear case of ” law of ruler ” instead of “rule of law”