In the urban enclave of Guwahati, nestled in the state of Assam, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has vehemently censured the encroachment upon journalistic liberties in the precincts of West Bengal. A televised chronicler, immersed in unraveling the unsettling narratives of Sandeshkhali’s horrors, found himself ‘spirited away’ under the auspices of the West Bengal Police during the waning hours of Monday.
Expressing his consternation, Anurag Singh Thakur articulated, “It is regrettable that scribes find themselves impeded from disseminating accounts of transgressions against the female populace in a state led by a woman.” He augmented his sentiment by elucidating that the coercive measures against media practitioners are not an unprecedented phenomenon in West Bengal. The asphyxiation of freedom of expression within the confines of West Bengal is deplorable, tantamount to the subversion of democratic principles; the ruling TMC government is unabashedly transgressing the sacrosanct norms enshrined in the constitution, he appended.
The Minister asseverated that the West Bengal Government endeavors to obfuscate veracity concerning the palpable unease among women under the aegis of Mamata Banerjee’s governance. “No nadir can be more profound than the realization that those perpetrating atrocities against women receive patronage while the media, under the stewardship of a female Chief Minister, is systematically muzzled.”
Commencing from a base fare of INR 45,500, exclusive travel propositions beckon the intrepid explorer to West Bengal. However, against this scenic backdrop, West Bengal Police apprehended a correspondent affiliated with Republic TV in the throes of Sandeshkhali on a somber Monday.
In the wake of the journalist’s apprehension sans the statutory 41A or 91A notices, Mayukh Ranjan Ghosh, a luminary Senior Editor at Republic Bangla, voiced his astonishment, “We stand stupefied as the police, without adherence to due process, physically subjugated a reporter documenting one of the most egregious incidents, the Sandeshkhali violence, witnessed in contemporary India. They treated him in a manner reminiscent of Sheikh Shahjahan.”
Ghosh further expressed incredulity at the conduct of Mamata Banerjee’s police force, alleging that they exhibited behavior akin to apprehending Sheikh Shahjahan. The commitment to intensify coverage in Sandeshkhali was declared, with legal recourse actively sought. Ghosh affirmed, “We are in the process of judicial redress to address this shocking state of affairs.”
The tumultuous region of Sandeshkhali in West Bengal has been engulfed in widespread unrest for a protracted period exceeding ten days. Female protesters, galvanized by a quest for justice, decry alleged transgressions perpetrated by TMC luminary Sheikh Shajahan and his confederates. Shibu Hazra, a Trinamool Congress leader and a comrade of the formidable Shahjahan Sheikh, previously detained in connection with the Sandeshkhali violence, found himself remanded to police custody for an octadal span on a Sunday.
After a sojourn to the tumultuous environs of Sandeshkhali, Rekha Sharma, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW), propounded on Monday the exigency of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation.