Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states are facing oppression and harassment under the directions of the Union Home Ministry.
She also questioned the role of national commissions, accusing them of turning a blind eye to alleged atrocities against Bengalis outside Bengal.
Speaking at a government distribution programme at Illambazar in Birbhum, Banerjee further accused the BJP of conspiring to exclude names from the electoral rolls in Bengal. She directed public representatives to “hit the ground” and thoroughly verify voter lists to ensure no genuine voter is left out.
“These commissions rush to Bengal if even a lizard bites someone. But when women are sexually assaulted or burnt alive in BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan or Odisha, they remain conspicuously silent. When Bengali-speaking people are assaulted, or their water and power connections are cut off, the commissions look the other way. In such moments, they are not commissions, but omissions,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee also made a direct appeal to migrant workers from Bengal working in other states to return. “If they come back, we will offer free ration, medical treatment, job opportunities and admission for their children in schools. We will even cover travel expenses. There is no need to suffer humiliation in other states,” she said.
She linked the alleged voter exclusion efforts to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and reaffirmed her opposition to any attempt to implement the NRC in Bengal. “Everyone should get their names registered in the new voter list. Genuine people must not be left out. This is how they are trying to implement NRC—it happened in Assam and they are attempting the same here,” she said.
Banerjee specifically appealed to minorities and Bengali-speaking migrant workers outside the state to ensure their names remain on the voter list. She urged citizens to protest if their names are deleted and inform booth-level officers (BLOs), emphasising that voting is their “constitutional right”.
She appealed to civil society to stand up against what she described as “linguistic terror” unleashed on Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-ruled states. “Branding Bengali-speaking citizens as illegal immigrants, pushing them across borders, using language as a weapon of persecution—all these point to a divisive and dangerous agenda. We will resist this democratically, with moral clarity and collective resolve,” she asserted.
The Chief Minister also claimed that a Bengali-speaking woman and her child, who were allegedly assaulted in Delhi, were subsequently “threatened”. “They were taken to multiple police stations, just as I had predicted yesterday. They were threatened. We want them to come back. The truth will come out in time,” she said.
Her remarks come in the wake of a statement by Delhi Police, which on Monday termed the video shared by Banerjee regarding the woman and her child as “fabricated” and “politically motivated”.
Meanwhile, BJP MP from Contai, Soumendu Adhikari—brother of Bengal’s Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari—filed a complaint against Banerjee on Tuesday. He accused her of “disseminating fake and communally provocative content on social media intended to defame Delhi Police and disturb public order”.