Bengali HR manager branded ‘B’deshi’ for speaking native tongue, loses job

Darjeeling: After a number of cases have been reported of migrant workers from Bengal being labelled Bangladeshi and being hounded out from states outside Bengal, now a disturbing case of alleged linguistic harassment has emerged in Siliguri in

Bengal itself. A Bengali HR manager was allegedly branded a “Bangladeshi” for speaking in his mother tongue and later lost his job. The incident has sparked outrage, with Mayor Gautam Deb assuring strict action.

The victim, Abhishek Sengupta, joined Tea Linkers & Bansal Tea as an HR manager in March this year. A native of Siliguri, Sengupta was born and raised in the city, where his father worked with the Railways. He alleges that the company was biased against religious minority recruitment and even dismissed a minority security staff member. “I gave that employee a farewell, after which I became a target. For the past month, I faced harassment and was told only Hindi must be spoken in the office. When I spoke Bengali, I was branded a Bangladeshi who had crossed the border and assumed a Hindu identity.

I have not been paid my salary. I was also heckled by Dhanraj Purohit and others of the company,” alleged Sengupta.

Sengupta claimed that he had approached Siliguri police at various levels, including the commissionerate, but received no support. Left with no choice, he lodged his grievance directly with Mayor Gautam Deb through the ‘Talk to the Mayor’ helpline.

On Monday, Mayor Deb visited Sengupta’s home, spoke to him in detail and warned of stern measures. “No matter how wealthy or powerful the perpetrators are, no leniency will be shown. Police have been directed to act strictly. Such incidents will never be tolerated in Bengal. I am a son of this soil myself,” the Mayor said. The controversy comes days after reports from Kolkata, where students of Calcutta University were allegedly harassed and beaten up by traders for speaking in Bengali. With this second incident, concerns are growing over intolerance against the Bengali language in its own state.

Police have now been asked to investigate Sengupta’s allegations. The HR manager, meanwhile, has appealed to authorities to ensure that no Bengali in Bengal is ever forced to abandon their language.