Several allegations of murder, abduction and extortion against him, but his antecedents are still ‘clean’. The only FIR still ‘active’ against him is the one that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) team filed after being attacked while on a raid in his village last month. There is still “no instruction” of arrest from the state government as the FIR only speaks about “conspiracy of rioting”. The ‘he’ here is none other than Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh.
Sheikh has been absconding for over two weeks now. A well-known face in the ruling Trinamool Congress, he has been the party’s block president for Sandeshkhali in North 24 Pargana district. Sheikh and his associates are accused of sexual abuse in Sandeshkhali, one of the largest islands in the Sundarbans.
Despite outrage, no woman has come forward to lodge an FIR of sexual assault against him. Even as the political slugfest between the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP continues in the state over the allegations and their veracity, West Bengal Police has moved into the blame-game territory.
Political Parties and Police Lock Horns
The social media handles of Bengal Police have turned proactive in busting ‘fake’ news with one-liners like “shameful spreading” of fake news or “wilful misinformation”. Like the handles of political parties, the social media handles of the police force are also posting video clips of women who were out to present their cases before the magistrate.
On the other hand, the BJP shared a list of women alleged to have been abused sexually, and intimidated or threatened. This is an unusual display of hyper activity by all political and administrative fronts in the state, which borderline violates the Supreme Court ruling of victim and witness protection in case of sexual abuse, said a retired officer on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, senior officers in the all-women police officers’ team probing the allegations said they received four complaints related to slavery or forced labour after talking to around 70 to 80 women across villages in the area. The women officers are moving from one village to another in an effort to talk to the women. None of them have yet come on record about an alleged rape or any form of sexual harassment.
“They are all saying some random hearsay stories. But none has come forward to lodge a complaint of sexual assault. They are primarily registering complaints about highhandedness of some local hooligans and coerced slavery,” a senior police officer told News18.
Amid the protests, statements and counter-statements in Sandeshkhali, Governor CV Ananda Bose intervened with a report to the Union Home Ministry and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a controversial statement in the Assembly calling the masked women “outsiders” and blaming the RSS for the mobilisation of protesters. Amid the high-voltage action, Sheikh Shahjahan is still roaming free and can afford to be at large.
The Murky World of Muscle Power, Land Grabbing and Slavery
Land grab, conversion of agricultural land to fish ponds, abductions, murders and slavery or forced labour — welcome to the murky world of muscle and political power play in West Bengal’s remotest Sundarbans. Sandeshkhali, that shot to infamy following alleged complaints of sexual assault, is one of many such islands, almost inaccessible to civil and police administration most of the time.
Talking to News18, another senior police officer said: “The issue is not about sexual assaults. It is more about land grabbing in the area. There is pent-up anger. Hundreds of acres of agricultural land were converted into fish ponds. There were allegations of sexual abuse against Uttam Sardar, who is an aide of Sheikh Shahjahan and we have arrested him already. However, Shahjahan is still absconding.”
Sources in the area further claimed that Shahjahan is accused of killing four villagers between 2018 and 2020. However, no FIR was registered. Bodies of two persons were not even found, they added.
Moving a little away from the electoral-political flare ups, one needs to look at the incidents unfolding in Sandeshkhali. These are remote locations where administrative accessibility is one of the main challenges.
To reach the villages, one needs to travel to some rural jetty in South or North 24 Parganas district, take improvised boats to the villages. The journey through river ways can take hours depending on the tide. The police stations run small camps in most of these islands. And above all, the islands have seen hundreds of acres of land being converted to fish ponds. The interior and challenging topography of these locations give the local political musclemen an upper hand over the villagers.
’Trinamool Version of Majid Master’
For decades, Bengal has witnessed rampant land grabbing and capture of fishponds. During the Left rule, the villages used to be terrorised by such a muscle man called ‘Majid Master’. He ruled over 40,000 bighas of fishponds and leased them out. Shahjahan Sheikh is the “Trinamool version of Majid Master”, said a senior BJP leader.
Majid Master, who used to be the head master of a school in North 24 Parganas district, was known as ‘terror’ in the region. He was an active member of the CPM’s district and state committees. There were several murder cases against him. Majid Master is credited with building the organisational growth of the CPM in the area.
He was arrested in 2011 after the Trinamool Congress came to power. His interest outside of politics was in fishing ponds, spanning 40,000 bighas, which he controlled for three decades. These ponds are leased out for around Rs 10,000-15,000 per bigha.
CPM and Trinamool Congress activists often clashed over the control of fish ponds, that help fund both parties. He allegedly ran a private army that operated across the 12 villages in Sashan panchayat which is close to Sandeshkhali. The locals claim that the party in power changed, but the villages are controlled by the same people led by different leaders.
