BJP’s orchestrating campaign of fear & intimidation, says Trinamool Congress

Kolkata: With a resident of Regent Park in Southern fringes of Kolkata, Dilip Kumar Saha, a contractual school staff allegedly committing suicide out of fear of NRC, Trinamool Congress (TMC) said that he was driven to the edge by “BJP’s orchestrated campaign of fear and intimidation”. In the suicide note, Saha, however, said that “no one responsible”.

“A resident of Kolkata has tragically DIED BY SUICIDE, driven to the edge by @BJP4India’s orchestrated campaign of fear and intimidation. Despite possessing valid documentation, Bengali-speaking citizens are being served NRC notices; Migrant workers are being arbitrarily labelled as foreigners; Citizens are being marked “doubtful” solely for speaking in Bengali,” Trinamool wrote on X.

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Bratya Basu during a Press conference on Sunday said: On the issue Basu said: “Dilip Kumar Saha committed suicide in fear of NRC. Why should it happen? BJP leaders from Bengal must protest as they speak in Bengali as well.” Trinamool Congress wrote on X: “Is there no limit to BJP’s hatred for Bengalis? After repeatedly harassing and detaining Bengali-speaking workers across BJP-ruled states, Amit Shah’s Delhi Police has now crossed all lines by officially branding our mother tongue, Bangla, as ‘Bangladeshi language’.”

Meanwhile, calling it an official attempt to strip a constitutionally-recognised language of its identity, Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday slammed Delhi Police for terming Bengali as “Bangladeshi language”, adding that it could be an attempt to portray millions of Bengali-speaking Indians as “outsiders”.

In a post on X, Trinamool shared a copy of a letter written by an inspector posted at the Lodhi Colony Police Station addressed to the officer in-charge of Banga Bhawan in New Delhi, requesting for a translator for “Bangladeshi language”. The letter also said during the course of an investigation, eight persons “strongly suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in India without any valid passport or visa were arrested”.

The inspector claimed the identification documents contained “texts written in Bangladeshi, which need to be translated to Hindi and English”, requesting for an official translator/interpreter proficient in “Bangladeshi national language”. The letter also added that copies of national ID cards, birth certificates, bank account details, etc, were found from the “suspected Bangladeshi nationals”.

Over the issue, Bratya Basu during a Press conference said: “After Pakistan was created, it was seen that their leaders did not know Urdu and they used to talk in Hindi.

Those who speak in Hindi, are they Pakistani? Pakistanis also speak in Hindi. Another leader Kunal Ghosh termed the letter of the Delhi Police “condemnable”.