Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared in the Calcutta High Court wearing a black lawyer’s suit on Thursday. He appeared before the court in connection with a case of post-poll violence in the state after the Trinamool Congress lost the assembly elections after 15 years of rule ended and the BJP came to power.
The case was filed by Shirsanya Banerjee, son of senior Trinamool leader and advocate Kalyan Banerjee, alleging attacks on political workers and party offices. During the hearing, the former chief minister sought immediate security for the victims. Addressing the judges, he said that this is his first appearance in the High Court and is fighting the case as a lawyer.
Presenting audio-visual evidence, he told the court that no one, including children, women and minorities, was spared from the violence. He submitted a list of ten enlisted men and added that six of them were Hindus. He demanded the eviction of an SC family, including a 92-year-old widow, from their home. He said that the 12-year-old girl was also threatened with rape.
Pointing out that the situation is gradually deteriorating, he said, violence is increasing every day and even public fish markets are being destroyed. “This is not a bulldozer state,” he said, urging the court to protect the people of Bengal. He questioned the role of the police and whether they were sleeping and investigating incident after incident instead of preventing crime.
Earlier, Trinamool Congress on social media praised Mamata Banerjee’s move and said that she will never leave the people alone and will continue to fight for justice. Since the election results were announced on May 4, the state has witnessed political violence, clashes and bomb attacks, for which both the BJP and the Trinamool have blamed each other. The victims were Chandranath Rath, a close aide of incumbent Chief Minister Subvendu Adhikari, who was shot dead in May.
