Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 6 (ANI): Doubling down on her claim of harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in the BJP-ruled States, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) notices are being issued to legitimate Indian citizens simply because they are from her State.
“It is deeply unfortunate that a deliberate, systematic attempt is now being made to criminalise our language. Questions are being raised on whether Bengali is even a language,” the Chief Minister said in a post on X.
“Bengali-speakers are being hounded, hunted, and humiliated in BJP-ruled states. NRC notices are being issued to legitimate Indian citizens simply because they are from Bengal. They seem to have forgotten that without Bengali, there would be no National Anthem or National Song,” she said.
Trinamool Congress has been conducting protest marches in West Bengal against the alleged targeting of migrants in the BJP-ruled States. The first such marches were conducted across the State on July 27, after Mamata Banerjee had called for protests every weekend until the next year’s Assembly polls at a Martyrs’ Day rally on July 21.
On Sunday, Banerjee accused the Delhi Police of describing Bengali as a “Bangladeshi language”, calling it scandalous, anti-national and unconstitutional.
Sharing a letter by Delhi Police on X, Banerjee had said, “See now how Delhi police, under the direct control of the Ministry of Home, Government of India, is describing Bengali as ‘Bangladeshi’ language! Bengali, our mother tongue, the language of Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, the language in which our National Anthem and the National Song (the latter by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) are written, the language in which crores of Indians speak and write, the language which is sanctified and recognised by the Constitution of India, is now described as a Bangladeshi language!!”
After this, the BJP hit back at her, suggesting that she be booked under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly inciting linguistic conflict.
BJP leader Amit Malviya argued that her reaction to the entire issue was “misplaced and dangerously inflammatory”, while adding that Delhi Police’s letter does not describe Bangla as a ‘Bangladeshi’ language.
“Mamata Banerjee’s reaction to Delhi Police referring to the language used by infiltrators as ‘Bangladeshi’ is not just misplaced, it is dangerously inflammatory. Nowhere in the Delhi Police letter is Bangla or Bengali described as a ‘Bangladeshi’ language. To claim otherwise and call upon Bengalis to rise against the Centre is deeply irresponsible. Mamata Banerjee should be held accountable–perhaps even under the National Security Act–for inciting linguistic conflict,” Malviya had posted on X.
“The official language of Bangladesh is not only phonologically different, but also includes dialects like Sylheti that are nearly incomprehensible to Indian Bengalis,” Malviya had said. (ANI)
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