Hathras rape case: TMC organises protest rally across state

Kolkata/BALURGHAT: Trinamool Congress leaders demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the recent incident at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh where a Dalit girl was gang-raped.

The party on Sunday held protest meeting and march in all the 341 blocks in Bengal. Party workers carried placards and posters condemning the incident.

Banerjee who had addressed a gathering at the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road on Saturday had instructed all her party workers to organise rallies and meetings across the state. She said her mind was in Hathras and reiterated that she would stand by the Dalits who have been tortured and oppressed. A team of Trinamool Congress MPs led by Derek O' Brien was stopped from going to the home of the victim on Friday. TMC is going all out against the BJP and the UP government for the failure to control violence in the state.

Trinamool Mahila Congress had organized candle march on Friday criticizing the BJP.

Trinamool Congress' South Dinajpur unit conducted several protest rallies against the incident in different parts of the district on Saturday.

A party spokesperson said the rallies were organised in Balurghat, Kushmandi, Gangarampur and Buniadpur by the local TMC leaders.

District Trinamool chief Goutam Das, party chairman Shankar Chakraborty, coordinators Subhas Chaki and Lalita Tigga were many of those frontal leaders of the district who took part in the protest rallies. Attacking the BJP government in UP, Das said: "We can't explain the incident in language. We are protesting the incident against the brutal murder of a 19-year old Dalit girl of Hathras village in UP. The government has no right to stay in power."

Party leader, Subhas Chaki said: "Bengal's saffron brigade used to blame our government for the law and order situation. I think they should look at UP where the Dalit girl was brutally gang-raped and then murdered. We are staying in peace in Bengal under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee."