'Stand with every fearless citizen defending language, democratic rights...': Mamata

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday asserted that she stands with every courageous citizen defending the dignity of their language, identity and democratic rights.

Raising her voice against linguistic discrimination, she accused the BJP of targeting Bengali-speaking citizens in Assam. Banerjee further alleged that the BJP’s divisive politics in the Northeastern state had crossed all limits.

The Trinamool Congress supremo has been accusing the Centre and the BJP-ruled states of systematically targeting Bengali-speaking migrants by branding them as “illegal Bangladeshi” or ‘Rohingya’.

Interestingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, in a rally in Durgapur, said that the Bengali language and identity are paramount to the BJP.

Taking to social media, the Chief Minister on Saturday criticised the way Bengali-speaking people in Assam are being persecuted.

She also reminded everyone that Bengali is the second most spoken language in the country.

In a post on X, Bengal Chief Minister wrote: “The second most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second most spoken language of Assam. To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their  own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional.”

She further pointed out: “This divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits and people of Assam will fight back. I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity, and their democratic rights.”

There have been several reports of migrant workers from Bengal being targeted in various BJP-ruled states.

Bengal Chief Minister on July 16, had hit the streets, threatening protests all across the country if the persecution does not stop in the BJP-ruled states. Earlier this month, Assam’s Chief Minister had said that people who seek to replace Assamese with Bengali in the electoral rolls would help the government get an idea about the number of “foreigners” in the state.

Banerjee had also attacked the BJP-led Assam government after a Foreigners’ Tribunal in Assam had issued a notice to a farmer from Cooch Behar, Uttam Kumar Brajabashi, declaring him an alleged illegal migrant. Banerjee had termed it a “systematic assault on democracy”.

Meanwhile, hitting back, Himanta Biswa said: “Didi, let me remind you — In Assam, we are not fighting our own people. We are fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border, which has already caused an alarming demographic shift. In several districts, Hindus are now on the verge of becoming a minority in their own land.”

He claimed that this is not a political narrative, but a reality, with the Supreme Court terming such infiltration as external aggression.

The slugfest between the CMs of two neighbouring states comes as the TMC is raising its pitch on the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states, setting the tone for the poll campaign ahead of next year’s Assembly elections in Bengal.