MILLIONS of victims of the Saradha scandal should welcome an impartial inquiry into it. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has moved in to recover the missing funds and repay the victims. What is surprising is that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken a critical stand. Nearly 90% of those defrauded belong to West Bengal. The state government should have been elated at the fact that a step has been taken to ensure that the victims get justice. While the Tripura, Assam and Odisha governments are happy, Mamata Banerjee sees in it a conspiracy against her government and her party. The state government has so far taken little action and to argue that the ED probe is unnecessary can create speculation about the alleged involvement of several leaders of the Trinamul Congress in the Saradha affair. The state police who had been inactive so far have suddenly taken action to prevent the ED from getting access to a locker in a Kolkata branch.
Surely, Mamata Banerjee could have used the intervention of the ED to clear her party and her government’s image. As an Opposition leader, she had on several occasions asked for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to come in on the state scene. The governments of Tripura and Assam have already welcomed a CBI probe into the Saradha scandal. The Odisha government is taking a hard look at the objections to it. It is high time Mamata Banerjee took the cue from the Tripura and Assam governments and revised her government’s stand. She seems to smell foul conspiracy of Opposition parties in every constructive move. The lady protests too much! Unless she sees reason, it may be felt that she is not really keen on exposing the fraud and bringing a smile to the victims. The guilty must be brought to book.
