3 min readKolkataApr 19, 2025 01:31 AM IST
First published on: Apr 19, 2025 at 01:31 AM IST
Apart from Governor C V Ananda Bose, teams of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and National Commission for Women (NCW) also on Friday visited the Malda camp where people from violence-hit areas of Murshidabad have taken shelter.
A team, led by NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar, met women residents at the relief camp and registered their complaints. “I am shocked to see the condition of women and children here. They have shared their problems. They were forcibly evicted from their home and have gone through unimaginable trauma. They are scared. What they have gone through is beyond imagination, especially women and children,” said the NCW chief after meeting women at the Pralalpur High School that has been converted into a relief camp.
“We have already formed an inquiry committee. We will noPralalpur High Schoolw submit a detailed report,” she added.
Archana Majumdar, a member of the NCW accompanying Rahatkar, said, “It is the state government’s responsibility to ensure their safety. What is the TMC doing? Is the government trying to turn West Bengal into another Bangladesh?”.
The NCW delegation is expected to spend the night in Malda before heading to Murshidabad on Saturday.
The panel is scheduled to meet district officials, victims and eventually call on the Governor, Chief Secretary and Director General of Police in Kolkata on Sunday.
A fact-finding team of the NHRC, meanwhile, visited Malda and Murshidabad. They met the family of Haragobinda Das, who was killed along with his son during last Friday’s violence in Samserganj. The father and son were among the three killed last Friday during violent protests against the new Waqf law.
PTI adds: Tension escalated briefly during Governor Bose’s visit to Pralalpur High School on Friday evening when angry camp residents broke barricades and surrounded district officials, accusing police of preventing journalists from entering the premises and not allowing them to speak to the media or meet visiting relatives.
Protests were held over alleged “police-imposed censorship, denial of access to the media to cover the Governor’s interaction with victims and inhumane living conditions”.
“This camp feels worse than a prison. Police are not allowing us to meet anyone and narrate our ordeal,” a camp resident told reporters.
“We are not allowed to go out or interact with our relatives here. We do not know why the media is not allowed inside when the Governor is here and talking to us. We want the world to know about our talks with him,” the inmate alleged.
Several women alleged harassment by police personnel and said they were being threatened at night to not talk to outsiders.
“Police are treating us like criminals. We are being given dry rotis, bananas and stale rice. It is hard to tell whether we are in a refugee camp or a detention centre,” a woman at the camp told reporters.
A team, led by NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar, met women residents at the relief camp and registered their complaints. “I am shocked to see the condition of women and children here (Express Photos) 
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