Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has spoken to Sheikh Abdul Hafiz, whose father died after allegedly being assaulted at their home in Karishunda village in Bankura’s Indas, and assured him that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) would stand by his family.
Hafiz had refused financial assistance offered by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) — since it was his support for the group that allegedly led to his father’s death — and instead asked that a school be built in his late father’s name.
During the phone call, Banerjee told the grieving young man, “Yes, brother, I have heard everything. It is a truly tragic incident. They are killing everyone and doing whatever they please; a most heinous regime is in power. I want to assure you that we have stood by your family, stand by you now, and will continue to do so.”
Hafiz told Banerjee that his phone, which contained important video and audio recordings, had allegedly been snatched during the incident. She advised him to travel to Kolkata with a copy of the FIR and other relevant documents and asked him to remain in touch with TMC leaders Sukhendu Mitra and MP Dola Sen so that the matter could be followed up. “If we don’t stand by you, who will? You are our family,” Banerjee told him.
The conversation came amid a political row over the death of Hafiz’s father Sheikh Mohammad Mafik (50), who died on Saturday night, two days after he was allegedly assaulted at the family’s home on 13 August.
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