Kolkata: Veteran actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mithun Chakraborty on Friday lashed out at the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government in connection with the Sandeshkhali incident and said political parties need to transcend their differences in addressing atrocities.
"There couldn't be a more disgusting thing than this. With women, you're playing such a kind of game? This is unbelievable. We all do politics, but this is beyond politics. This shouldn't happen. We all have the responsibility to raise our voices and to make sure that they don't have to suffer this plight," BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty said.
The politician-actor during his visit to Kolkata also met BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, underscoring the gravity of the situation. BJP MP and member of the delegation, who visited Sandeshkhali, Brij Lal said, "This is Mamta Banerjee's dictatorship. There are two central ministers and four MPs here. There are five women in this, and despite that, we are being stopped in this way.Mamata Banerjee wants us not to visit there (Sandeshkhali). It is a clear symbol of the atrocities happening in West Bengal, and Mamta Didi's high-handedness. It is very saddening." Women in Sandeshkhali have been up in arms over the last few days over alleged atrocities committed on them. The BJP formed a six-member committee of Union Ministers and MPs, who have been tasked with visiting Sandeshkhali and gathering facts on the alleged incidents of sexual harassment and violence against women.
They were directed to visit the incident site, take stock of the situation, talk to victims and submit their report to BJP national president JP NaddaShajahan and his aides.
Earlier, today, a 6-member BJP delegation constituted by the party's national president, JP Nadda, to visit Sandeshkhali was stopped by police in West Bengal.
The six-member team includes party leaders Annapurna Devi, Pratima Bhowmik, Sunita Duggal, Kavita Patidar, Sangeeta Yadav and Brij Lal. BJP leader Agnimitra Paul accompanied the delegation to Sandeshkhali.
'We are folding hands in front of you (the police) please allow us to meet the victims. We feel like the local police are also involved in atrocities against these women. Let us go. We want to go. The way the police are stopping us, they have no right. The 6-member team has come, and their sole purpose is to meet the affected families, especially the women and daughters. We want to meet them and assure them. The police cannot stop us from meeting anyone,'" a member of the delegation said even as a police team surrounded them.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said,"We will try to go (to Sandeshkhali), it is our right. Whatever BJP are saying doesn't matter to us. We will go."
—ANI