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KOLKATA — As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to address the 'Nari Bandhan' (Women Empowerment) rally organised by West Bengal unit of BJP at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday, the women who protested in Sandeshkhali against the sexual harassment and violence by a section of the ruling Trinamool Congress leaders will also attend.
On Wednesday morning, the women started assembling at the jetty in Sandeshkhali (which is basically a conglomeration of islands) to cross over to Dhamakhali on the opposite side, from where they will be reaching Barasat by road.
The women said that they hope to have limited interaction with the Prime Minister so that they will be able to narrate their stories of oppression atthe hands of the ruling party leaders like forceful grabbing of farmland, land conversion into pisciculture farms by flowing in saline water and sexual harassment against them.
Aparna Das, was one of the leading faces of protest at Sandeshkhali, started early to reach the rally venue in time.
“We are going to attend the public rally to be addressed by the Prime Minister. We want back our old peaceful Sandeshkhali. We want back our right to vote freely and without fear. We want back our basic democratic rights. The arrest of just Sheikh Shahjahan is not enough. There are others like him roaming around and hounding the common people. If we get a chance we will narrate to the Prime Minister about the horrific experiences we had gone through during the last so many years,” she said.
Another protesting woman at the jetty waiting to cross to the other side said that the women of Sandeshkhali had been pushed to the walls. “During the last few years we have lost everything and even our basic dignity. We hope that the Prime Minister is aware of what we have been going through for all these years. We expect him to make us aware of his outlook in the matter,” she said.
Gangadhar Koyal, a local BJP leader said that since 2016, the arrested Trinamool Congress leaders and his associates have unleashed a total reign of terror in the entire region. “In the successive panchayat elections, there had been instances of rigging and election malpractices where people could not cast their votes freely,” he said.