67 women signatories on Wednesday wrote to West Bengal Commission of Women against West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. The letter states Dhankhar has openly insulted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and women in general.
The letter was in reference to a tweet on 2nd October by the Governor.
The letter states, “His excellency made a sexually coloured remark and engaged in flirting with our Chief Minister Smt. Mamata Banerjee and thereby sexually harassed her and outraged her modesty.”
The portion of the tweet that the letter refers to mentions, “In his tweet, his Excellency has shockingly sought love from Smt. Mamata Banerjee, by asking veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan to “lock” the moment the Governor receives “Mamta from Mamataji.” The flippant manner in which the Governor has objectified women on a public forum of the “locker conversations” where “boys can be boys" and sexual advances, passes and insults at a woman are considered normal.”
There is still no response by the Governor to this complaint against him. The Governor and Mamata have been at loggerheads over various issues. The latest flashpoint has been the turban incident, where a Sikh BJP protester’s turban was pulled off during the mega BJP rally last Thursday. The Sikh protester had a firearm which prompted the Police to arrest him. The family of the protester arrived in Kolkata from Delhi and met the Governor, who also has been vocal about the issue lashing out on social media against the state administration.
The letter comes on the same day that the family met the Governor and the state administration is trying to find ways to defend their stand.
