WOMEN leaders, along with CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat recently visited some of the worst affected villages in West Bengal and talked to families who experienced bitter tragedies. These villages are gravely terrorised. But the women showed marvellous courage and asserted that they would never surrender. Brahman Chawk: Arming itself for the War Which is due to be Waged Renubala Mondal’s grandson got hit by a bullet fired by TMC goons on the poll day during the fifth phase of the last Lok Sabha elections. He along with other villagers were targeted and shot by TMC criminals because they were on their way to cast their mandate. Nowadays in West Bengal it is of utmost importance to the ruling party to stop anyone from casting mandate in a democratic way. This importance compels the ruler to unleash the barest of attacks to ensure a halt to the democratic participation of citizens. Renubala Mondal, the mother of two sons is 86 years old. Her husband and both her sons are unable to stay in their ancestral village; they are somewhere else away from their family. Renubala was saying that, “what am I supposed to do! Both my sons are accused in false cases framed by the administration, my whole family is devastated.” In West Bengal it is the toll for supporting the CPI (M) under the TMC regime. Almost every house of Brahman Chawk village of Haroa in North 24 Parganas district has more or less similar experience. The word ‘vicious’ lacks in conveying what is at stake here in Brahman Chawk. A village is left apart to stand without a single male occupant, all of them got evicted. The children of those families are denied entry to schools, cultivation is at halt, relatives are denied from entering into the village to meet their near ones and even ancestral lands have got appropriated. CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat along with Central Committee member Rekha Goswami and other women leaders were dumbfounded hearing the tales of the villagers who narrated their experience of terror unleashed by the TMC sponsored criminals. The delegation went to Brahman Chawk on August 4, 2014 to visit the affected people. The villagers who were shot by bullets on the poll day are on the list of false cases framed against them regarding the same event. The Police administration has turned into the piper of the ruling party. They have managed to put aside the name of local MLA Usharani Mondal who led the gun-attack on villagers on the poll day, from the charge-sheet. Her husband, a criminal who is accused of two murders and a TMC leader, is roaming freely in the village. The ruling party is keen to ensure terror in every nook and corner of the state and Brahman Chawk is another stand out example of the same. Brinda Karat has assured the villagers to bring back those who have been driven out from their homes, at whatever cost it takes. She also assured the villagers to stay by their side. Brahmin Chawk is arming itself for a war which is due to be waged. Zarina Bibi Determined: Lavpur to Continue its Struggle for Justice The mother of three murdered sons, Zarina Bibi was determined to say that she would fight till justice is earned. She lost three sons in spine-chilling episodes of terror unleashed by TMC criminals. It has been alleged that Manirul Islam, the local TMC MLA, called her sons to a meeting and killed them all on June 4, 2010. The Police administration has struck out the name of Manirul, the prime accused from the charge-sheet. Sparing the criminals from every crime they commit has become the new fashion of governance in this state for the last few years under the TMC regime. Zarina Bibi is determined to carry on her struggle until the judiciary pronounces sentence of punishment to Manirul and other criminals. AIDWA organised a mass meeting at Siuri, Birbhum on August 3, 2014, in which Polit Bureau member of CPI(M) Brinda Karat participated along with other women leaders. Zarina’s grand children have been denied necessary certificates which made them unable to get admission in college even. Manirul and his army have been issuing threats of all kinds to her and her family. The Police administration has withdrawn security from her home. Yet the family which witnessed three murders in a row has braced itself and is ready to fight till the end. Zarina has said this in the AIDWA’s mass meeting on August 3, 2014. Brinda Karat has assured Zarina to stay by her, in her battle for justice. Karat underlined Zarina’s fight as an example to others as she fights even after losing three of her sons. She said that Zarina’s struggle would be an inspiration to those women who fight against all sorts of atrocities and crimes committed against them in this country. With Zarina’s battle, there are many more people now. Her battle is getting stronger day by day. Lavpur with its brave mother Zarina is now determined to continue its fight for justice. Santana Mondal: Courage to Lead the Way On May 7, 2014, Santana Mondal lying on a hospital bed, was saying, “I am not afraid.” Just a day before, the TMC goons had slashed her left breast with dagger. Yet this dalit agricultural worker was ‘not afraid’ on the next morning. That is how she symbolised ‘courage’ to the people of this state. She said that she knew what it would cost her for not voting in favour of the TMC, yet she did not stop. The criminals of the ruling party were not arrested even after committing such crime. This is the irony of law and order condition in West Bengal. Brinda Karat had visited her earlier. She was surprised to see such courage. Brinda Karat, in an extended district committee meeting of Hoogly on August 2, 2014, spoke on what actually the ruling party’s politics are meant for. It is a different Bengal compared to what it was for last 34 years. Santana’s courage epitomizes what is there in the minds of common people of the state. To conclude, in Santana’s words, “don’t worry… the days are coming when this TMC goonda raj will end” and till then it is a tooth and nail fight – the goons versus the affected, the ruling party versus the common people of the state.