Murshidabad, Sandeshkhali, RG Kar: BJP Must Launch SIT Probes in First Cabinet Meeting
West Bengal has finally witnessed political change after years of one of the most emotionally exhausting and politically violent chapters in its modern history. But this election result was not merely about party symbols, campaign slogans, or electoral arithmetic. It was something far deeper. It was an explosion of accumulated anger, helplessness, fear, and exhaustion among ordinary Bengalis who had spent years watching controversy after controversy shake the state while institutions appeared increasingly paralysed, compromised, or selective in their response.
For years, many citizens across Bengal quietly lived with a growing belief that justice depended on political connections, media attention, or court intervention. They watched scandal after scandal erupt. They watched allegations of political violence become routine headlines. They watched women cry before cameras. They watched doctors protest on the streets. They watched communal clashes spiral out of control. And in many of these moments, they also watched governments, police machinery, and political ecosystems appear more focused on damage control than accountability.
Today, names like Murshidabad, Sandeshkhali, and RG Kar are no longer just locations or institutions. They have become emotional scars in Bengal’s political consciousness. They represent something much larger than individual incidents. They represent the collapse of trust.
That is why the incoming BJP government must understand one thing very clearly. This mandate is not simply a transfer of power. It is a demand for accountability.
And if the BJP truly wishes to send a message that a new political culture is beginning in Bengal, then its very first cabinet meeting must announce Special Investigation Teams into the major incidents that came to define public anger during the previous regime.
Not after a month. Not after political negotiations. Not after celebrations.
Immediately.
Bengal Does Not Need Revenge. It Needs Accountability
Let this be stated clearly before the usual accusations begin. This is not a call for political revenge. This is not a demand for witch-hunts. Democracies cannot function through cycles of vendetta.
But democracies also cannot survive when citizens begin believing that powerful people are beyond investigation.
The BJP fought this election claiming that Bengal needed law and order, institutional reform, women’s safety, and freedom from political intimidation. Fine. The people have now handed them power. The time for speeches is over.
The first real test of this government will not be how loudly it celebrates victory. It will be whether it has the courage to reopen files that many people hoped would quietly disappear from public memory.
An SIT mechanism monitored by the courts and staffed with credible officers would immediately send a signal that the culture of impunity is being challenged. Because the truth is simple. Justice delayed for too long eventually becomes justice denied permanently.
Why Murshidabad Cannot Be Buried Under Political Transition
The violence in Murshidabad shook Bengal because it once again exposed how quickly law and order can collapse when administrative systems fail to respond decisively.
Families were displaced. People died. Entire neighbourhoods lived in fear. Videos and testimonies created national outrage. And like always, political blame games began immediately while ordinary citizens were left wondering who would actually answer the difficult questions.
Was intelligence ignored?
Why did the violence escalate so dramatically?
Were enough preventive measures taken?
Did local authorities act fast enough?
Were all victims treated equally regardless of political or religious identity?
Did political considerations influence administrative response?
These questions cannot simply vanish because elections are over.
If Bengal wants genuine healing, Murshidabad cannot become another file buried under bureaucratic dust and political convenience. A full SIT investigation into administrative handling, police response timelines, political links if any, and institutional failures is absolutely necessary.
Not to inflame tensions, but to ensure such failures are never repeated again.
Sandeshkhali Became a Symbol of Fear and Political Protection
Sandeshkhali disturbed Bengal at a very emotional level because the allegations coming from the ground were horrifying not merely as criminal accusations, but as accusations of systemic protection.
Women from rural Bengal publicly alleged intimidation, land grabbing, harassment, and abuse despite enormous social pressure and fear. That image alone shook public consciousness. When frightened villagers begin speaking openly before cameras despite knowing the political risks, it means trust in normal systems has already collapsed.
The issue stopped being about one locality very quickly. Sandeshkhali became symbolic of a larger public fear that certain political ecosystems had become untouchable.
Bengal owes those women more than television debates and election speeches.
If the new government truly believes in accountability, then SIT investigations must examine every major allegation seriously: land grab accusations, political protection networks, claims of police inaction, possible administrative complicity, and allegations of witness intimidation.
If even a fraction of the allegations turn out to be true, then Bengal cannot move forward without exposing the full chain of protection that allowed such a climate to exist.
RG Kar Was the Moment Bengal’s Conscience Broke
The rape and murder inside RG Kar Medical College horrified the country because it shattered the sense of safety inside a place meant for healing and education.
Doctors protested not merely because a crime had occurred, but because many genuinely feared that institutional systems were more interested in controlling the narrative than uncovering the complete truth. Students marched on the streets. Medical professionals erupted in anger. Ordinary citizens who had never attended protests before came out demanding answers.
The emotional damage caused by the case went far beyond one institution.
It made people ask terrifying questions.
If such a crime could happen inside a major medical institution, then where exactly was Bengal’s administrative machinery functioning properly?
The public still deserves answers regarding: the handling of evidence, security lapses, administrative responsibility, possible attempts at narrative management, and whether institutional pressure influenced parts of the investigation.
An SIT probe with complete forensic review and institutional accountability findings is necessary not because people want endless outrage, but because Bengal cannot simply “move on” from a case that traumatised the state’s collective conscience.
The Culture of Political Violence Must Finally Be Investigated
Bengal’s tragedy is not only individual controversies. It is the normalization of fear itself.
For years, political violence became so routine that many citizens almost psychologically adapted to it. Panchayat elections, post-poll clashes, intimidation allegations, cadre conflicts, localised terror, crude bomb incidents, political killings — everything slowly became part of Bengal’s political background noise.
That is perhaps the most dangerous damage of all.
When violence becomes normal, democracy becomes hollow.
The new government must therefore think beyond individual incidents. Bengal needs a broader institutional examination into patterns of political violence, alleged protection networks, and repeated administrative failures over the past decade.
Because accountability cannot remain selective. If this government only investigates cases politically convenient to it, then nothing will fundamentally change.
The First Cabinet Meeting Will Define The BJP Government’s Intentions
Governments reveal their priorities through their first decisions.
The symbolism of the first cabinet meeting matters enormously. Bengal will watch carefully whether the new administration immediately focuses on political appointments and victory optics, or whether it begins by confronting the darkest allegations that shaped public anger over the last several years.
This is the moment to announce: time-bound SIT probes, court-monitored investigations, victim protection mechanisms, monthly public updates, and fast-track judicial processes wherever necessary.
That single decision would send a message stronger than a thousand victory speeches.
It would tell Bengal that the era of suppressed files and selective silence is over.
Justice Is The Only Way Bengal Can Truly Move Forward
Political victories come and go. Governments rise and fall. But the emotional wounds left behind by institutional failures remain for generations.
Murshidabad, Sandeshkhali, and RG Kar are now permanently etched into Bengal’s political and social memory. Ignoring them would not create stability. It would create deeper cynicism.
Because the people of Bengal did not vote merely for a change of rulers. They voted believing that accountability might finally return to public life.
The BJP has won the election.
Now it must prove that Bengal’s faith was not misplaced.
Its first cabinet meeting should not begin with celebration.
It should begin with justice.
