Lok Sabha elections 2024: The truth about Sandeshkhali

No cabbie in Kolkata has heard of Sandeshkhali Thatrsquos our only spotpoll to do with the Bengal elections arrived at from scoring the cheapest taxi to take us into this minor island off Sunderbans about two and half hours from Kolkata And not too far from the allegedly porous border by the rivers of IndiaBangladeshMost news junkies would have first heard of Sandeshkhali on January 5 when officials of the enforcement directorate ED got manhandled and fended offThe house of dreaded don Sheikh ShahjahanTheyrsquod come down to raid the home of Sandeshkhalirsquos panchayatlevel politician associated with Mamta Bannerjeersquos TMC evidently a dreaded don Sheikh ShahjahanSandeshkhali has been in national news since for mass protests mostly fronted by local women that followed from a month thereafterShahjahan went MIA His goons apparently continued to intimidate locals who were hitting back in return Sandeshkhali became a metaphor for TMCrsquos misrule in Bengal for BJP to exploit in the general electionsNirapada Sardar at his CPM office in SandeshkhaliThe said raid was in connection with a larger lsquoration scamrsquo in the state involving its former food minister Jyotipriya Mullick What it blew up into is something elseRevealing the dark power structures of this ordinary hamlet surrounded by soilbeds turned into ponds for cultivating fishIsland of mistrustThere are in fact two Sandeshkhalis We quickly crossed over from Dhamkhalito Sandeshkhali II on a boat which isnrsquot too different from taking a jetty from Versova to Madh Island in MumbaiIn that sense there really is one Sandeshkhali Which is also an Assembly constituencymdashreserved for scheduled castes including Muslimsmdashthat falls under the Basirhat Lok Sabha seatLocals at the rickshaw riderrsquos union room watch a speech by Home Minister Amit Shah A boat ferrying people to SandeshkhaliOur first introduction fresh off the boat is with the local Binoy Sardar wondering if wersquore from the CBI So not Hersquos figured wersquore journalists observing us click pictures of a few state police personnel ferrying armshields on a cartNonetheless Binoy shares a list of police cases against himmdashdated February 9 IPC sections 147148353332323186hellip for participating in the ldquogondogolrdquo referring to the said mass protests and arson that followed while he wasnrsquot apparently in town He claims there are many like himThe picturesque village in the harsh sunlight ahead of us would work best for a riverine scene in a Gautam Ghose arthouse film Except a general sense of tension in the village despite the state of slumber is all too evident ldquoBhoi anubhob korein do you feel fairrdquo we generally ask chitchatting with localsThey say not anymore Meaning Shahjahan and his closest henchmen Shibprasad Hazra Uttam Sardar and others have been arrested many have been sacked from TMC Also street protests and violent outbursts in Sandeshkhali have stopped for nowThe bad menldquoSure therersquos temporary sudhaar improvement But the issues here of jor jorum injustice remainrdquo says Nirapada Sardar sitting in his bare but charming CPM office in Sandeshkhali with an unarmed guard posted outsideNirapada was the Sandeshkhali MLA until 2011 when TMC came to power and has remained since He is fighting the Basirhat seat on the CPM ticketHe says referring to Shahjahan and company ldquoThese are dangerous men bringing agnishastra firearms from across the border grabbing land for fishing hurting women and wreaking havoc for mass rigging of votes in panchayat elections The fear spreads because they receive support from the policerdquoNirapada was also briefly arrested subsequent to Februaryrsquos violence in Sandeshkhali In fact for some time he confesses to have tacitly aligned with the BJPrsquos members up against ldquoTMCrsquos goonsrdquoIn the sense that he says ldquoWe led a joint andolan movement here without a flag But once the BJP felt this could strengthen the red flag instead gravitating the gareeb poor locally they went on their own For a general election we have grave central issuesmdashno teachers in our school MNREGA payments getting deniedhelliprdquoA political analyst affiliated to the TMC suggests ldquoLocal warlords naturally align with the power centre The same party workersvolunteers comprised the CPMrsquos cadre oncerdquo Itrsquos a widely held perceptionThough Nirapada blurts out a long list of the accused Shahjahan Hazra onwards showing us beforeafter image of another local goonrsquos home for how much wealth theyrsquove amassed ldquoNone of them were ever with the CPMrdquoPolls and the polarisationElectorally Sandeshkhali is a Hindudominated area Basirhat its Lok Sabha constituency is Muslimmajority BJP has fielded Rekha Patra a Sandeshkhali survivor on the seat TMCrsquos brought back trusted oldhand grassroots leader Haji Narul Islam to replace the sitting MP Nusrat Jahan a former film actorThe TMC office in Sandeshkhali not too far from CPMrsquos is halfshuttered A relatively large open room packed with men on the floor watching TV if not enjoying their siesta appears to be the BJP officeWe deduce this from the televisionrsquos speakers at top volume relaying the speech of Home Minister Amit Shah from a rally in Bengal Who else would watch politics for afternoon entertainment if not those actively involved in it or karyakartas as it wereOnly this is the resting room of the local autorickshaw ridersrsquo union We ask the usual ldquobhoyrdquo fear question for a conversationstarterThey say that itrsquos all good now Just that moment the TV screen switches to news images of clashes between BJP and TMC workers around Patrarsquos campaign elsewhere in Basirhat surely not too far from this room full of chillersHow does this political violence really take place Rickshaw rider Sanatan Sardar explains ldquoTherersquoll be a rally Workers from the other party will raise slogans or manhandle those attending Clashes will followrdquoA political analyst says ldquoWith Sandeshkhali one yoursquove got the religion of the chief accused Shahjahanmdashalthough all others donrsquot belong to the same faith Plus women spoke up and theyrsquore Mamatarsquos strong vote bank Both gave BJP an issue to suitably plan and play up Basirhat seat per se is not the point Bengal isrdquoWhich is how Sandeshkhali otherwise known to no one in Kolkata became a national flashpoint from a politically charged Bengal That anyway has a history of foisting similar metaphors Naxalbari Nandigram Purulia SingurhellipWe drive down about 10 kilometres from Sandeshkhali II into Akunjipara More where the scene swiftly shifts from an arthouse film into a Bollywood potboilermdashobserving the majestic mansion of Shahjahan and family the medieval king in Bengalrsquos boondock Ah this is where it all started2011Year TMC came into power in Sandeshkhali