In what may cause another round of embarrassment to the CPI(M), the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) has taken strong exception to party MLA Anisur Rahman’s derogatory comments about chief minister Mamata Banerjee and directed the state director general of police (DGP) to conduct a probe and file a report. WBHRC joint secretary Sujoy Kumar Halder said, “Although our office was closed on Friday, our chairperson Justice (retd) Asok Kumar Ganguly came to the office to look into the matter. Taking suo moto cognisance of the incident, he observed that Mr Rahman’s comments amounted to the violation of human rights to the part of a woman who is the chief minister of the state.” He added, “The chairperson ordered the state DGP to investigate the entire matter, collect a statement of Mr Rahman and submit a report containing the DGP’s independent comments to the commission within three weeks. Besides some news channel which telecast Mr Rahman’s filthy remarks about Ms Banerjee have been instructed to the submit the footages in CDs to the DGP as required.” The commission’s rap came even after the former minister had apologised on the instructions of senior party leaders. Outraged over the filthy comments on their party chief, the Trinamul Congress leaders and workers took out rallies across the state in protest and condemned Mr Rahman’s remarks. Trinamul Congress chief whip Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said, “Although Mr Rahman has apologised for his distasteful comments, he was not the first person in the CPI(M) to make such statements. There are instances of Benoy Konar and Anil Basu who had made indecent comments against women. It suggests that its in the CPI(M) culture. There is a need to create public opinion against this and that is why we took to the streets.” In Siliguri, Trinamul MLA Rudranath Bhattacharya while leading a rally said, “So what if Mr Rahman apologised He has not only insulted the chief minister but also all women.” At the Writers’ Buildings, state urban development minister Firhad Hakim accompanied by panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee lashed out at Mr Rahman and the CPI(M). Describing Mr Rahman as an “anti-social”, he alleged: “The communists have destroyed the culture and tarnished its reputation. They need to be boycotted.” Without making any reference to Mr Rahman, state Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya also criticised the CPI(M) in his address during the 128th foundation day celebration of the party. He said that the CPI(M) needed to change its habit of using “ indecent words” and warned that if they remained unchanged, they would not be able to reach out to the mass.
