TMC workers ‘molest’ woman
Trinamul Congress workers allegedly beat up and molested a housewife in an East Midnapore village when she refused to pay a fine of `50,000 imposed by a self-appointed salishi sabha (Kangaroo court). The woman had to suffer this ordeal in front of her teenaged son. Battered and humiliated, the middle-aged woman consumed poison but she survived and was undergoing treatment in Contai sub-divisional hospital.
In February, her husband was thrashed allegedly by the same group of ruling party supporters, forcing him to flee home. He took shelter in Cuttack in neighbouring state Orissa. Their elder son who was involved in a brawl with a youth over a game of carom, also fled home on Saturday when Trinamul Congress workers allegedly threatened him of dire consequences.
This family which is CPI supporter lives in Kanaidighi village in Marishda police station area in East Midnapore. They earned the wrath of the local Trinamul Congress workers because they were in the forefront of a local campaign against illegal liquor and had smashed a few vends and shops.
“I was called to the salishi sabha by my younger son. There were dozens of people present among whom were 20-25 Trinamul Congress leaders and workers. They demanded `50,000 fine for leading the anti-hooch campaign in January. They told me that a number of liquor dens were destroyed and I would have to pay compensation,” the victim said.
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KATJU says cm must behave more maturely
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, April 18
Reacting to the ongoing controversy on the arrest of a professor for posting a cartoon, Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju on Wednesday stated that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee must learn to function in a democratic and more mature manner.
“I think Mamata Banerjee should have behaved in a more mature manner. She is no more a street fighter, she is the chief minister. The manner in which she has behaved is totally unacceptable,” Mr Katju said. He was responding to a question on the arrest of a professor for posting a cartoon of the Trinamul Congress chief on the Internet.
The PCI chairperson stated that the chief minister “must learn to be an administrator. Now she is no longer in opposition. She must learn some democratic way of functioning.”
The retired Supreme Court judge claimed that he is a well-wisher of the West Bengal chief minister. “But you must act in a democratic manner which she did not. What’s wrong if somebody publishes a cartoon. So many cartoons you people have published about me,” he said.
The PCI chief also pointed out that the Ms Banerjee was a person of integrity.
On the issue of West Bengal government’s ban on certain English dailies and high circulation Bengali newspapers from the state-funded and state-aided libraries, Mr Katju stated that he had raised the issue with Union minister Sultan Ahmed (Trinamul Congress) and had told him that Banerjee should not take such decisions.
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