Kolkata, Feb 26 (IANS): The Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Vishnu Deo Sai, has written to his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee expressing concern over the recent developments at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district.

Sandeshkhali has been on the boil for quite some time now over the protests by local women alleging sexual harassment and violence by a section of the local Trinamool Congress leadership.

Sources said that while expressing concern over the harassment charges levelled by the women belonging to the backward and tribal communities, the Chhattisgarh CM also requested Mamata Banerjee to ensure that the accused persons, including absconding Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan, are arrested.

In the letter, sources said, Vishnu Deo Sai has also said that he is extremely saddened by the sequence of events at Sandeshkhali over the past few days, where women protesters have even accused the local ruling party leaders of snatching away their payments received under the 100-day MGNREGA job scheme.

According to the Chhattisgarh CM, such attacks on women are unthinkable in West Bengal, which happens to be the home state of legendary Indian personalities such as Swami Vivekananda, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Syama Prasad Mukherjee.

Vishnu Deo Sai also claimed that appeasement politics that has been going on for long in West Bengal has played a role in the women being pushed to such a state.

Reacting to the letter, Trinamool spokesman Kunal Ghosh criticised the Chhattisgarh CM, stating that the latter is unnecessarily interfering in the internal matters of West Bengal.

“When the leader of opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, used offensive words against West Bengal minister Beerbaha Hansda, who also comes from a tribal background, the BJP leadership remained silent. Also, women from the backward classes are tortured in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat. In Delhi, the farmers are being oppressed. But the BJP is not speaking on these issues,” Ghosh said.