Naturally TMC leaders, to salvage their reputation, have adopted a two-fold approach to put up some kind of public defence. They have organised a women's demonstration against the Central Bureau of Investigation and defended Rajya Sabha MP Imran Hassan, who stands accused of anti-national activity.

It is clear a routine denial will not help Mr. Imran, a journalist with controversial links, very much. Allegations about his links with Jamat-e-Islam, Bangladeshi fundamentalist organisation and its fronts, have been made by Bangladesh authorities formally to the Government of India. The GOI has referred the matter to the West Bengal government, which does not seem interested in questioning its RS MP.

It is not often that allegations of anti-national activities of prominent Indian leaders are reported almost simultaneously in Indian and Bangladeshi media. Intriguingly, this is precisely what happened recently with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Ms Mamata Banerjee and her party.

Some days ago, the Kolkata-based CPI Bengali daily Kalantar published a detailed report from its Dhaka correspondent, concerning the TMC journalist Rajya Sabha MP, Ahmad Hasan Imran. The report mentioned Imran’s links with Muslim fundamentalist organisations in Bangladesh. More importantly, it gave details of payments that Imran had allegedly made occasionally to these circles, known for their fanatic anti-India bias, in recent times.

The story naturally set off ripples of muted reaction among political parties here. There was no official response from the TMC office. The point of the despatch was that the money could have been part of the huge Saradha chit fund deposits collected from poor people in Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Assam.

It may be recalled that Imran, nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the TMC this year, has come under scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation officers currently probing the biggest multi-crore monetary scam in India , under orders of the Supreme Court. The CBI has made several arrests already and is about to present its first charge sheet in a few weeks.

He was questioned at length by the CBI, although the special team of West Bengal police probing Saradha before the CBI, never approached him. According to media reports, the officials wanted to know why he had not transferred ownership of the weekly paper ' Kolom' he edited, to the Saradha chief Sudipto Sen.

Now in jail and facing interrogation, Sen had alleged that he had been pressured by 'influential people' into buying the weekly for a large sum, but had not received official documents confirming the change in ownership by those who ran the paper.

The weekly, dedicated to the Muslim community, enjoys strong TMC backing as a vehicle of favourable publicity. Ms Mamata Banerjee had instructed the department of Information and Cultural Affairs to enlist it among select papers that must be supported financially by way of ads and circulation. Most such publications reported poor circulation. But following the infusion of funds, Kolom soon became a daily.

Imran has been known to have links with the Muslim students' organisation SIMI, now banned in some states in India.

Interestingly, while political circles have by and large kept quiet about the allegation and its aftermath, Kolkata Police Commissioner S. Purakayastha has rushed in where angels feared to tread. Asked by newsmen whether the state police had received allegations about Saradha money being diverted to Bangladeshi jihadists, said 'We need details, not kite flying.'

Since the Kalantar story provided specific details about the people to whom Imran had allegedly made payments, it was open to question whether the police chief had even seen the report.

Here the matter would have ended but for a more comprehensive coverage of suspected TMC-Jihadist links on a prominent and popular Dhaka-based website. This report, more researched than the Kalantar item, noted how the TMC in India had sabotaged the proposed Indo-Bangla Teesta water sharing treaty, causing national embarrassment and humiliation for Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister and leader of the UPA II Ministry, in Dhaka. The political prospects of the ruling Awami league were affected. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina faced much flak within the country, which became a powerful election issue for the pro-Pak Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamat-e-Islami and other anti-Indian Jihadist forces. (IPA Service)