On 29 December, a delegation of the CPI(ML) Liberation WB State Committee visited the house of Jewel Rana Sheikh in Chakbahadurpur village under Suti police station in Murshidabad district. Jewel lost his life after being subjected to Hindutva violence in Sambalpur, Odisha, on 24 December. Two others who were attacked in the same incident survived. Among them, Sanwar Hossain is currently admitted to Dhulian Hospital. The party delegation also visited the house of Anwar in Madhupur village under the same police station area and met his family. In both villages, the delegation expressed solidarity with the families and held detailed discussions with them and other villagers.
Jewel Rana Sheikh was a 19-year-old youth from a poor working-class family of Chakbahadurpur village. His father, Ziarul Haque, and three uncles live together in a small single-storey house. All of them are daily wage labourers.
Jewel’s mother, Nazima Bibi, is distraught and is currently under severe shock due to the brutal killing of her only son.
It is learnt that Jewel’s father, Ziarul, was himself physically attacked about a year ago while working in Sambalpur, Odisha. Though he survived, the injuries severely reduced his capacity to work, and he is no longer able to go out for labour. Of his two daughters, one is married. Jewel had earlier worked in Kerala for some time and had gone to Odisha just five days before the tragic incident.
Relatives said that Jewel was attacked on the head with iron rods with such force that his skull was cracked open during the assault.
In Madhupur village, Sanwar’s mother and other women narrated the incident based on what they heard from Sanwar. Sanwar is 24 years old and had previously worked in Odisha as well. This time, he was staying together with Jewel and another worker.
In Sambalpur, a group of five people first surrounded Jewel outside their room and asked whether he was Hindu or Muslim. On hearing that he was Muslim, they branded him a Bangladeshi. When they demanded to see his Aadhaar card, Jewel went inside the room. The five followed him, saw Anwar and the others, branded them Bangladeshis as well, forced them to chant “Jai Shri Ram,” and then assaulted all three with iron rods and wooden sticks. All three fell unconscious.
Speaking about her son’s condition, Sanwar’s mother said that he suffered a deep injury at the back of his head and that both his hands and the left side of his body have gone numb. Sanwar’s father is a cancer patient, and there is no other earning member in the family. After caring for the patient and managing household responsibilities, Sanwar’s mother is unable to earn even a small income by rolling bidis.
Villagers from Jewel’s village said that following this incident, many migrant workers have returned home from Odisha out of fear. They said that more than 75 per cent of the youth from Murshidabad migrate to other states for work and face attacks of varying degrees, particularly in BJP-ruled states. They also reported that another attack took place in Odisha just yesterday, on 28 December.
Expressing anguish, villagers said that if there were employment opportunities in the village, no one would leave their parents and migrate for work. When the 100-days work scheme was functional, some employment was available, but it has been effectively shut down in recent years. They also said they were unaware that the central government had replaced the NREGA Act with a new bill.
Women in the village mainly work as bidi workers. They cut leaves, fill them with tobacco, roll and tie them with thread, and deliver bundles of 25 bidis to agents. The wage is ₹200 per thousand bidis. After managing household chores, women are able to earn only ₹70–80 per day.
The village has a primary school and a higher secondary school at some distance. However, even children from poor families are now being sent to private schools, as villagers feel that teaching does not take place properly in government schools. They said they are willing to pay fees even at the nursery and primary levels. They clarified that it is not that boys are preferred over girls; rather, girls tend to study longer as boys migrate for work once they grow older. Jewel Sheikh had studied up to Class V–VI.
Villagers stated that such violence, hatred, and organised attacks have increased significantly under BJP rule. Many said that speaking Bengali itself invites attacks, and identification as Muslim makes the violence more brutal. They pointed out that while the local BJP organised marches against attacks on minorities in Bangladesh, no one from the party came to express even basic solidarity with Jewel’s family.
On behalf of the state government, the district administration handed over a cheque of ₹2 lakh to Jewel’s family. The police administration facilitated Sanwar’s hospital admission. The families and villagers demanded strict punishment for the perpetrators. Several villagers also stated that the BJP government, which they allege promotes hatred and allows such crimes to go unpunished, must also be held accountable.
The delegation was led by Apurba Lahiri, State Committee member and Murshidabad district leader. Others included Ibrahim Sheikh, Malda district secretary; State Committee members Malay Tewari, Indrani Dutta, Madhurima Bakshi, and Ranjay Sengupta; Comrade Arun from party’s Liberation magazine; and Murshidabad RYA leader Comrade Manbhola Chowdhury.
CPI(ML) Liberation, WB, organised a statewide Protest Day on 30 December, against this heinous attack arising from the BJP government’s aggressive and dangerous campaign of identifying “foreigners.”
