Dhankhar slams Mamata’s ‘studied silence’ on violence, state hits back

Before leaving for Delhi on Tuesday, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, complaining to her about the state government’s alleged inaction in cases of post-election violence and her “studied silence” on the matter.

In response, the state Home Department expressed “dismay and distress” at the governor’s allegations and said the letter’s contents were not “consistent with real facts” and were fabricated. The TMC, meanwhile, hit back at Dhankhar for making “venomous and baseless comments”.

Dhankhar’s letter to Banerjee came a day after a delegation of BJP MLAs led by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari met him to discuss the alleged deterioration of law and order in the state. The governor left for Delhi on Tuesday evening and will return on June 18.

“Constrained to convey @Mamataofficial that continued silence and inaction over post-poll violence, violation of human rights and dignity of women, destruction of property, perpetuation of miseries on political opponents – worst since independence, ill augurs for democracy,” Dhankhar tweeted.

In the letter, the governor wrote, “Such ‘punitive’ decimation of human rights and dignity shames democracy. In spite of your attention having been drawn to the enormity of situation, huge exodus of people in search of cover for life and destruction of property worth crores, there has only been stunning silence at your end and you did not deem it necessary to even deliberate this grave human tragedy in any of the cabinet meetings so far.”

Dhankhar told the CM that her “studied silence” coupled with the absence of any steps to rehabilitate and compensate people affected by the violence had led to the “inevitable conclusion that all this is state-driven”.

The Home Department chastised Dhankhar for disrupting the “sanctity of such communications” by making the letter public. “The unusual step of going public in this manner abruptly and unilaterally has shocked the Government of West Bengal all the more because the contents are fabricated,” it added.