Kolkata: Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee will launch “Bhasha Andolan” (Language Movement) from Birbhum’s Bolpur on July 28 to protest against the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states.
Political observers feel that the reason for choosing Birbhum as the starting venue of the protest is the district’s rich association with Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The Chief Minister on Monday will attend an administrative meeting in Bolpur, where she will inaugurate several government projects. Later in the day, Banerjee will launch the ‘Language Movement’ march in Bolpur. The procession of about three kilometres will commence from the Tourist Lodge crossing in Bolpur to Jamboni bus stand, sources said. Banerjee reached Birbhum on Sunday evening.
From the administrative meeting, Banerjee will inaugurate several schemes. She will inaugurate a bridge in Jaydev which will improve connectivity between East Burdwan and Birbhum by shortening travel distance by 33 kms.
The Chief Minister is expected to garland the statue of Rabindranath Tagore at Jamboni and address the gathering from a makeshift stage. Banerjee who is also the Trinamool Congress supremo may sharpen her campaign against the BJP. Banerjee is likely to air her reservations on the special intensive revision (SIR) of Bengal’s electoral rolls ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. The SIR exercise is ongoing in neighbouring Bihar, where Assembly elections will be held before the end of this year.
A senior Trinamool Congress leader said that they were expecting direction from Banerjee at Monday’s rally on how to counter the BJP on migrant workers issue.
Banerjee has already accused the BJP of targeting Bengali-speaking migrant workers across several states. “This cannot go unchallenged and we will not tolerate this,” she said earlier. Banerjee also stated that they would take the protest to Delhi if the harassment of Bengali-speaking people does not stop in BJP-ruled states. She is also expected to virtually inaugurate the 200-year-old temple in Rampurhat’s Chakaipur in its new ‘Avatar’ on Monday. Promileswar Banerjee, late father of Bengal Chief Minister used to perform puja in this temple.
The Chief Minister is scheduled to return to Kolkata from Birbhum on Tuesday. Before that, she will attend a public distribution programme on rice mill ground near Illambazar BDO office at around 1 pm on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Banerjee reiterated her charge against the BJP of unleashing a regime of “linguistic terror” on Bengalis in the country, claiming that members of a migrant family were beaten up by the police in Delhi.
Banerjee shared a video on X of a child and his mother belonging to a migrant family from Bengal’s Malda district, who were allegedly beaten up by the police in the national capital. “Atrocious!! Terrible!! See how Delhi police brutally beat up a kid and his mother, members of a migrant family from Malda’s Chanchal. See how even a child is not spared from the cruelty of violence in the regime of linguistic terror unleashed by BJP in the country against the Bengalis! Where are they taking our country now?” she said in her post.
Banerjee had earlier accused the BJP of unleashing “linguistic terrorism” on Bengalis, asserting that the fight for identity and language will continue until the saffron party is defeated. Speaking at her party’s annual Martyrs’ Day rally on July 21, she had announced that from Sunday (July 27), a movement would start in Bengal to protest against “attacks on Bengalis, the Bengali language and linguistic terrorism”. Trinamool Congress leaders and activists held rallies over the issue in different parts of the state on Sunday.