‘Tears won’t go in vain’: Abhishek to workers who were jailed in Maha

Itahar/Malda/Kolkata: Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday met two migrant workers from Balurghat in South Dinajpur who were arrested in Maharashtra on suspicion of being Bangladeshis and kept in a jail there for seven months.

Banerjee was accompanied by a BJP neta from the region, Pulak Chakraborty, who said Trinamool played a "pivotal role" in securing the release of the workers while local BJP MP and junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar kept mum and did not provide any help.




"They were labelled as Bangladeshis for speaking Bengali and were jailed in Maharashtra. Despite the BJP govt being in office in Maharashtra, Sukantababu did nothing. We worked hard to bring them back," Banerjee said.

Claiming that Majumdar was a "fashion show master" and "stop-gap minister", Banerjee questioned, "Isn't politics all about standing by the people? Don't you have any responsibility towards those who elected you? Party and politics can wait. We have a responsibility. It's not right to label 10 crore people Bangladeshis for political gain. I don't know whose interests are being served, but people's tears will not go in vain. Sooner or later, their curse will have its effect."

Later, addressing a roadshow at Itahar in North Dinajpur, the TMC neta attacked BJP for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. "Whom are they calling Bengali infiltrators? To whom are they sending notices? Amartya Sen, Dev and Md Shami? They are sending notices to a man who contributed to the Indian economy, a player who won World Cup for the country. If any BJP neta asks for papers, tell him to bring his father's papers first," Banerjee said.

Urging his supporters to "intensify the fight", he said, "If even one-third of the people who took to the streets today go to Delhi, will Sukanta Majumdar, Suvendu Adhikari and Amit Shah find a way to escape? North Dinajpur has nine (assembly) seats and South Dinajpur, six. Trinamool must win all 15. They tried to take away our fundamental rights through SIR and removed names from the (voters') list. Let them file FIR, SIR, BIR, CIR. No matter how much they attack, Bengal will win again," Banerjee said.

Earlier in the day, Banerjee headed straight to migrant worker Asit Sarkar's house in Patiram after landing in Balurghat. He assured Sarkar of all possible help so the latter might earn his sustenance at home. Sarkar was behind bars in Thane for seven months before being released on bail on Dec 27.

In Jan last year, Sarkar, 54, travelled to Mumbai with his 22-year-old son Akash in search of work. In June, police raided their workplace and questioned the workers. Sarkar struggled with Hindi and reportedly mentioned his home as "Bangla", which led the police to suspect that he was from Bangladesh. He was arrested along with colleague Gautam Barman of Gangarampur.

Barman, an active BJP worker, said, "My party did nothing to get me out of jail. My family even approached minister Sukanta Majumder, who did not pay any heed to their plea... I was released only because of Abhishek Banerjee's intervention."

Reacting to the allegations, Majumdar said, "Barman's wife admitted I spoke to the authorities concerned on the issue. Abhishek Banerjee is indulging in filthy politics. I heard they (migrant workers) have been given money and promised jobs (to make such statements)."