The Trinamool Congress dispensation on Wednesday brought back a Malda migrant family from Delhi to Calcutta to establish that the BJP’s accusation against Mamata Banerjee — of posting a fake video claiming police torture of a toddler and his mother in the capital — was completely false.
On Sunday evening, Mamata had posted a video of a child and a woman, claiming that the BJP had not even spared a child in its campaign of "linguistic terrorism" against Bengalis.
A day after her post, Delhi police claimed the video was fabricated and created under the instruction of a political leader from Malda.
The issue quickly took a political turn after the BJP activated its senior leaders on social media to accuse Mamata Banerjee of posting a fake video for political gain.
On the instruction of the leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, his brother and Kanthi BJP MP Soumendu Adhikari lodged a complaint with the cyber crime department of Delhi police against Mamata.
“Mamata Banerjee said on social media how terror is being unleashed on Bengali-speaking Indians on the outskirts of Delhi, and how atrocities in BJP-ruled states across the country have stooped to such a vile and disgraceful level. After that, some BJP leaders tried to claim it was false. The Delhi police were made to say the video was incorrect. Now, the family has disclosed the truth, proving the BJP’s falsehood,” said Trinamool state general secretary Kunal Ghosh at a news conference at Trinamool Bhavan in Calcutta.
Members of the migrant family were present at the news meet apart from Ghosh, urban development minister and Calcutta mayor Firhad Hakim and Rajya Sabha members Samirul Islam and Mausam Benazir Noor.
Sajnoor Parvin, the mother of the toddler, on Monday confirmed that whatever Mamata had claimed earlier was true, adding worse allegations against the Delhi police.
Parvin, whose father-in-law moved to Delhi from Malda about 25 years ago under a contractor’s arrangement, alleged that she was taken to a deserted location by four men in plainclothes who claimed to be Delhi police officers. Though she showed them her Aadhaar card and said she was from Malda and an Indian citizen, they accused her of being a Bangladeshi and slapped her twice when she protested, she alleged.
“Then they asked me to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. When I refused, they kicked me in the abdomen. My minor son was also injured during the torture,” said Parvin, who resides in the Sri Ram Chowk area of New Delhi.
According to the family, after Mamata condemned the atrocities against them, Parvin, along with her husband and three children, was taken to a police station in Delhi, where she claimed severe mental torture.
“When I told them we were not Bangladeshis and were from Malda district in Bengal, a police officer said anyone from Bengal means he or she is a Bangladeshi. I protested again. They then forced me to say Mamata Banerjee had instructed me to speak that way,” said Parvin, adding that under immense pressure of Delhi police, they were forced to sign multiple documents that they were not allowed to read.
After the news conference, Parvin, accompanied by Trinamool leaders, visited the Pragati Maidan police station in Calcutta and lodged a complaint against the Delhi Police on Wednesday evening.
“What our chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed on social media was exactly reiterated by Sajnoor during the news conference. Their public statement confirms Didi was right. We hope the BJP has received a befitting reply to their falsehood,” said Islam, also the chairman of the West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board.
The BJP, however, stood by its earlier claim and asserted that the entire news conference by the family had been staged.
“Mamata Banerjee posted a fake video, and her falsehood has already been exposed. Our MP has lodged a complaint against her. That’s why the TMC desperately held this press conference with Sajnoor Parvin — to cover up Mamata’s lies. But the truth is already out, and this staged show won’t change anything,” said BJP state general secretary Agnimitra Paul, also the party MLA from Asansol.