Kolkata, Sep 15 (PTI) A Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) member, whose father died allegedly after an attack on their home in West Bengal’s Bankura district last month, met TMC chief Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence here on Tuesday, carrying documents related to the incident and seeking a school to be built in his father’s memory.
Abdul Hafiz, a resident of Karishunda village in Indas area, met Banerjee along with the FIR, post-mortem report and other documents pertaining to the alleged attack and his father’s death.
Hafiz, however, did not speak to reporters after the meeting.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen said the meeting was not political.
“Don’t look for politics in this. There is no TMC-CJP angle,” Sen told reporters.
According to the CJP, the incident stemmed from Hafiz raising questions over the dilapidated infrastructure of a primary school in Karishunda and visiting the school as part of his party’s ‘Fix the School’ campaign.
On the night of August 14, Hafiz’s house was allegedly attacked. The CJP has accused people allegedly backed by the BJP of carrying out the attack.
Hafiz’s 51-year-old father, Sheikh Mohammad Mafik, was allegedly assaulted when he intervened while trying to protect his son. He was seriously injured and admitted to a hospital, where he later died, according to the family.
The incident subsequently triggered a political blame-game, with rival parties trading allegations over the circumstances leading to Mafik’s death.
A TMC delegation visited Hafiz’s residence after the incident, while Banerjee also spoke to him over the phone, according to the CJP.
During the conversation, the former West Bengal chief minister had asked him to meet her at her residence after completing his father’s last rites and other post-funeral rituals, Sen said.
“She had spoken to the son of the person who died and told him to come and meet her after the last rites and other rituals were over. Abdul came today and met Didi,” Sen said.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the issue of the alleged attack and the investigation into Hafiz’s father’s death, as well as the condition of the school in Karishunda, were discussed, sources said.
Sen said Banerjee had been standing by people who have been victims of attacks and that Hafiz’s meeting with her should not be viewed through a political lens.
“His father died in a mob attack by BJP (supporters). The boy’s only ‘crime’ was that he had gone to inspect a school,” she said. PTI PNT ACD
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