Calcutta HC order given hope for justice to the victims: NCM Vice-Chairman

Atif Rasheed, Vice-Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities on Thursday welcomed the Calcutta High Court decision to hand over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the investigation of the cases related to murders, rapes, and crimes against women which happened in the state of West Bengal in May 2021 soon after the declaration of assembly election results.

New Delhi:Atif Rasheed, Vice-Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, on Thursday, welcomed the Calcutta High Court decision to hand over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the investigation of the cases related to murders, rapes, and crimes against women which happened in the state of West Bengal in May 2021 soon after the declaration of assembly election results and said that the decision has given hope for justice to them.

Speaking exclusively to ETV Bharat, Atif Rasheed, Vice-Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, said, "The decision by Calcutta High Court today has given hope for justice to the victims of post-poll violence in West Bengal and this is the first step in the line of giving justice to them since were craving for it."

"I was the member of the committee constituted by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to visit the affected areas and prepare the report accordingly. During the visit to West Bengal, we found that violent incidents had happened and on that basis, we had submitted a report to Calcutta High Court," said the Vice-Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities.

Atif Rasheed added that Calcutta High Court's order is the first step towards justice to the innocent voters of West Bengal who had exercised their constitutional right in the state election by voting for the party of their choice and in return, they had to face the consequences of violence, murder, rape, and exodus.

"We had submitted our report in Calcutta High Court and had written for the formation of Special Investigation Team (SIT) and watching the condition of the affected areas I had even asked to deploy Army in the state," he added.