[Reader-list] Comment on Bengal Women's Commission in Rizwanur Case

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear All,

This note came my way this morning from Aditya Nigam and Nivedita Menon. 
There has been some discussion of the Rizwanur Rahman case in West 
Bengal on this list. So, I thought this would be of interest to some.

regards

Shuddha
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PROTEST THE UNETHICAL MOVE BY THE BENGAL STATE WOMEN’S COMMISSION

We are distressed to read the statement of the West Bengal State women’s 
Commission after its visit to Priyanka Todi whose husband Rizwanur 
Rahman   was found dead on the railway track after he had fixed an 
appointment with the APDR friends regarding his harassment at the hands 
of the Kolkata Police who were acting in blatant violation of all legal 
and civil norms at the behest of Priyanka’s father Ashok  Todi . Todi 
wanted her daughter to walk out of the marriage and had mobilized 
Kolkata police to terrorize Rizwan and his friend Sadiq who was witness 
to their marriage. The  married couple were called t  the Thana thrice 
and told by the police that Priyanka should go to her parents and they 
would ensure that she returned after a week. This was not to happen. She 
was forced to go her father but all efforts of Rizwan to talk to her 
after this period failed. Desperate, he contacted the APDR (Association 
for the Protection of Democratic Rights) .

One must remember that Sadiq, who was witness to their marriage was 
threatened by police with dire consequences. He had to go into hiding. 
Priyanka had gone to her parents on 8 September. Rizwan wrote a detailed 
account of his harassments at the hands of the Kolkata Police and gave 
it to the APDR. On 21 September, he talked to the APDR people and it was 
decided that they would meet in the afternoon. This meting was also not 
to take place. He was  to be found dead on the Railway tracks just ater 
his telephonic talk. Prasun Mukherji, the Kolkata police Chief declared 
immediately without waiting for the customary autopsy report that it was 
a transparent case of suicide. He blatantly  justified  the illegal 
intervention of the police in a perfectly  legal marriage between tow 
adults  Pryanka and Rizwan, claiming that it was natural for the father 
of the girl to get upset over such marriage as it was a marriage between 
unequals.  After all, Ashok Todi is a man worth more the 200 crores and 
Rizwan was only a Muslim of modest earnings!

We know that a powerful people’s campaign is on demanding  the removal 
of the cops involved in the whole affair and a fair investigation which 
has repeatedly been rejected by the CM, West Bengal.  It is now a matter 
of public discussion that Todi is close to Prasun . The West Bengal 
government is putting shameless arguments in
  the high court opposing a CBI investigation as demanded by the mother 
of Rizwan. It is widely believed that the CID report has been 
manipulated to make it a case of suicide. The state government has 
violated  also all norms in constituting a
  Judicial Inquiry.

  In these circumstances, the visit of the State Women’s Commission to 
Ashok Todi’s place to ‘know’ about Priyanka’s well being and the 
statements made by the members of the commission afterwards that 
Priyanka had come on her own to Todi and the Police were not harsh to 
her and she wanted to be left alone  and move beyond this tragedy 
without media glare and to top it all, the appeal by the members of the 
commission to Priyanka that she should not let herself get harassed by 
the media make it very clear that the commission is being used to give
legitimacy to the police and the government and also to Ashok Todi. 
Should one be surprised that the Commission did not think it fit to 
visit Rizwan’s family and instead went to Todi’s house which, as has 
rightly been said cannot be a neutral site ?  It is indeed painful that 
eminent personalities like Jasodhara Bagchi are  allowing themselves to 
be used as agents of a government led by a party  which has  repeatedly 
shown that it has scant regard for the rights of the people and 
especially women.

The move by the  West Bengal state Women’s Commission needs to be 
condemned strongly by all democratic people. They need to remember that 
these institutions were created after a long and difficult struggle and 
any move to make them subservient to the state would be resisted with 
the might of the people. The members of the Commission have lost their 
right to continue on this commission  as they have, on this occasion and 
on many occasions like Singur and Nandigram failed to act in an 
autonomous manner. We appeal to all democrats and feminist groups to 
protest against this violation of the autonomy of the West Bengal  State 
Women's Commission.

Aditya Nigam, CSDS, Delhi
Apoorvanand, Delhi University
Nivedita menon, Delhi University