Lok Sabha elections 2024: The truth about Sandeshkhali

State police ferrying shields in Sandeshkhali

No cabbie in Kolkata has heard of Sandeshkhali. That's our only spot-poll 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 India-Bangladesh.

Most news junkies would have first heard of Sandeshkhali on January 5, when officials of the enforcement directorate (ED) got manhandled, and fended off.

The house of dreaded don, Sheikh Shahjahan

They'd come down to raid the home of Sandeshkhali's panchayat-level politician, associated with Mamta Bannerjee's TMC, evidently a dreaded don, Sheikh Shahjahan.

Sandeshkhali has been in national news since, for mass protests, mostly fronted by local women, that followed, from a month thereafter.

Shahjahan went MIA. His goons apparently continued to intimidate locals, who were hitting back in return. Sandeshkhali became a metaphor for TMC's misrule in Bengal, for BJP, to exploit in the general elections.

Nirapada Sardar at his CPM office in Sandeshkhali

The said raid was in connection with a larger ‘ration scam' in the state, involving its former food minister, Jyotipriya Mullick. What it blew up into is something else.
Revealing the dark power structures of this ordinary hamlet, surrounded by soil-beds, turned into ponds, for cultivating fish.

Island of mistrust

There are, in fact, two Sandeshkhalis. We quickly crossed over from Dhamkhalito Sandeshkhali II, on a boat, which isn't too different from taking a jetty from Versova to Madh Island in Mumbai.

In that sense, there really is one Sandeshkhali. Which is also an Assembly constituency - reserved for scheduled castes (including Muslims) - that falls under the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat.

Locals at the rickshaw rider's union room watch a speech by Home Minister Amit Shah; A boat ferrying people to Sandeshkhali

Our first introduction, fresh off the boat, is with the local, Binoy Sardar, wondering if we're from the CBI. So not! He's figured we're journalists, observing us click pictures of a few state police personnel, ferrying arm-shields on a cart.

Nonetheless, Binoy shares a list of police cases against him - dated February 9, IPC sections 147/148/353/332/323/186… for participating in the "gondogol", referring to the said mass protests, and arson that followed, while he wasn't apparently in town. He claims there are many like him.

The picturesque village, in the harsh sunlight, ahead of us, would work best for a riverine scene in a Gautam Ghose art-house film. Except, a general sense of tension in the village, despite the state of slumber, is all too evident. "Bhoi anubhob korein (do you feel fair)," we generally ask, chit-chatting with locals.

They 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 now.

The bad men

"Sure, there's temporary sudhaar (improvement). But the issues here of jor, jorum (injustice) remain," says Nirapada Sardar, sitting in his bare but charming CPM office in Sandeshkhali, with an unarmed guard posted outside.

Nirapada was the Sandeshkhali MLA until 2011, when TMC came to power and has remained since. He is fighting the Basirhat seat on the CPM ticket.

He says, referring to Shahjahan and company, "These are dangerous men, bringing agni-shastra (fire-arms), 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 police."

Nirapada was also briefly arrested, subsequent to February's violence in Sandeshkhali. In fact, for some time, he confesses to have tacitly aligned with the BJP's members, up against "TMC's goons".

In the sense that, he says, "We 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 issues - no teachers in our school, MNREGA payments getting denied…"

A political analyst, affiliated to the TMC, suggests, "Local warlords naturally align with the power centre. The same party workers/volunteers comprised the CPM's cadre once." It's a widely held perception.

Though Nirapada blurts out a long list of the accused, Shahjahan, Hazra, onwards, showing us before-after image of another local goon's home, for how much wealth they've amassed: "None of them were ever with the CPM."

Polls and the polarisation

Electorally, Sandeshkhali is a Hindu-dominated area. Basirhat, its Lok Sabha constituency, is Muslim-majority. BJP has fielded Rekha Patra, a Sandeshkhali survivor, on the seat. TMC's brought back trusted, old-hand, grassroots leader, Haji Narul Islam, to replace the sitting MP, Nusrat Jahan, a former film actor.

The TMC office in Sandeshkhali, not too far from CPM's, is half-shuttered. A relatively large, open room, packed with men on the floor, watching TV, if not enjoying their siesta, appears to be the BJP office.

We deduce this from the television's 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 were?

Only, this is the resting room of the local auto-rickshaw riders' union. We ask the usual "bhoy" (fear) question for a conversation-starter.

They say that it's all good now. Just that moment, the TV screen switches to news images of clashes between BJP and TMC workers, around Patra's campaign, elsewhere in Basirhat; surely not too far from this room full of chillers.

How does this political violence really take place? Rickshaw rider Sanatan Sardar explains, "There'll be a rally. Workers from the other party will raise slogans, or manhandle those attending. Clashes will follow."

A political analyst says, "With Sandeshkhali, one, you've got the religion of the chief accused (Shahjahan) - although all others don't belong to the same faith. Plus, women spoke up, and they're Mamata's strong vote bank. Both gave BJP an issue to suitably plan, and play up. Basirhat seat, per se, is not the point. Bengal is."

Which 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, Singur…

We drive down about 10 kilometres from Sandeshkhali II into Akunjipara More, where the scene swiftly shifts from an art-house film into a Bollywood potboiler - observing the majestic mansion of Shahjahan and family, the medieval king in Bengal's boondock. Ah, this is where it all started.

2011
Year TMC came into power in Sandeshkhali