As Sandeshkhali Row Rages, Trinamool MLA's Remark On Women's 'Physique, Complexion' Draws BJP Ire

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Locket Chatterjee has slammed Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Narayan Goswami for commenting on the physique and complexion of the indigenous women of West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali village, where local women have been agitating over alleged atrocities committed against them by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shajahan Sheikh and his aides.

TMC’s Narayan Goswami, during a recent interview, said, “The adivasi or tribal women from Sandeshkhali can be identified by their physique and complexion. However, the women alleging harassment in front of the camera are fair. Can we infer that they are local adivasis?”

Responding to this, Chatterjee took to X (formerly Twitter) to call his comments “utterly shameful and disgraceful”.

“TMC MLA Narayan Goswami’s crude remarks attacking the women of Sandeshkhali, clearly expresses his filthy mentality. Belittling the tribal community and women based on their physical structure and skin color is a clear sign of the demented and racist politics by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. When will the neel-shada (dark-fair) bahini’s racism stop?” she wrote.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA and Bengal Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, is all set to visit Sandeshkhali along with 30 other MLAs and leaders to hold protests on Thursday, a day after West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar was injured and hospitalised as party workers clashed with police personnel after being stopped from entering the village, where prohibitory orders are in place.

A huge police contingent has been deployed in and around the Sandeshkhali area to stop the BJP and other opposition activists from entering the area.

Adhikari on Thursday said he will hold a protest march to Sandeshkhali. “As I have announced on Monday that on February 15, I will head to Sandeshkhali block to meet the locals. The police should not try to stop me”, the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly said.

A delegation of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes is also scheduled to visit the area. According to sources, BJP’s fact-finding team which was appointed by party chief JP Nadda will visit Sandeskhali on Thursday (February 16).

The BJP on Wednesday charged that ‘jungle raj’ prevailed in West Bengal and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed that there is “complete anarchy and lawlessness” in West Bengal under the TMC rule with Chief Minister Banerjee allegedly protecting her party goons who allegedly raped and exploited tribal women in Sandeshkhali.

Protests persisted in Sandeshkhali for the seventh consecutive day on Wednesday, with a significant number of women taking to the streets, demanding the arrest of TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan.

Sheikh has been absconding since January after a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that went to conduct searches in his house in connection with a ration scam was attacked by a mob.