Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday condemned reports that several Bengali-speaking traders from Murshidabad’s Domkal were allegedly given a 72-hour ultimatum to leave Odisha’s Nayagarh district after being branded “Rohingya” and “Bangladeshi” by local police. The traders, who have been travelling to the region for years to sell mosquito nets, quilts and winter garments, said they were suddenly called to the police station, interrogated about their identity and threatened with expulsion despite producing Aadhaar cards, voter IDs and other documents.
The group said the directive has jeopardised their livelihood at the peak of their seasonal sales and left them deeply anxious about their safety. Many of them have been visiting Odisha for decades without incident and described this sudden hostility as unprecedented.
Reacting sharply, TMC released a statement on social media, accusing the police and local administration in the BJP-ruled state of harassing Bengalis under the pretext of questioning nationality. The party wrote: “Bengali traders from Murshidabad who have worked in Nayagarh for years were humiliated inside a police station and labelled ‘Rohingya’ and ‘Bangladeshi’ simply for speaking Bengali. This attack on their livelihood and identity is unacceptable.” The post went on to say: “Bengalis will never accept such injustice. In Bengal, there is no place for the BJP’s anti-Bengali politics.”
TMC argued that the episode reflects a larger pattern of linguistic and communal profiling encouraged by what they termed the BJP’s “divisive narrative.”