Didi: Sandeshkhali violence was instigated by the BJP

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that the BJP had sent in activists from outside the region to create a conflict between the Adivasi and minority groups in Sandeshkhali and incite violence. “Reckoning for riots and having an RSS base,” she said.
Speaking in front of the legislature, Mamata said that Sheikh Shahjahan, the ruling TMC’s wanted man who is believed to have attacked ED officials last month, was the “primary target”.”That tension is not brand-new. There were other options if we hadn’t addressed the matter during Saraswati Puja, the woman said.

“She is the last person to allow injustice,” said Mamata. The reference was to claims that Shahjahan’s associates had harassed women sexually, which had prompted altercations between police and BJP activists who were protesting throughout the previous week.
“There are seventeen individuals under arrest. There is a state women’s commission. A police squad comprised mostly of women is knocking on houses to hear complaints. To take action, I must be aware of the situation,” Mamata said.

Suvendu Adhikari, the state opposition leader for the BJP, said he will petition to Calcutta High Court on Friday after police prevented him from going to Sandeshkhali on Thursday. “With authorization from the court, I shall return to Sandeshkhali. I am unstoppable,” Adhikari said. Additionally, governor CV Ananda Bose was visited by a nine-member TMC team, who denounced a BJP report on the violence as “one-sided” and brought it before them.