Bengal Assembly to hold spl session on torture of Bengali-speaking migrants

Kolkata: A special session of the Bengal Legislative Assembly is expected to be convened in August to discuss a proposal addressing the alleged torture of Bengali-speaking migrant labourers.

According to Assembly sources, the session will be held from August 8 to 21. Four important Bills are also expected to be tabled during the session. The state Parliamentary Affairs department is presently holding talks with the Law department regarding the Bills.

The special session will be officially announced by Speaker Biman Banerjee once the placement of the Bills is finalised. Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the BJP of waging “linguistic terrorism” against migrant Bengalis and, while addressing a massive Martyrs’ Day rally in the heart of Kolkata, announced the launch of a “Bhasa Andolon” (Language Movement) across Bengal starting July 27, warning that if linguistic profiling and the torture of Bengali-speaking people continue in BJP-ruled states, a massive protest will be taken to Delhi.

Trinamool national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee announced that TMC MPs will increasingly speak in Bengali during the ongoing Parliament session that began on Monday.

“The Parliament has translators. If an MP serves notice about speaking in their mother tongue an hour before the session begins, they are allowed to do so and the speech is then translated into a language everyone can understand,” said Mamata Banerjee.

TMC had already called for a protest rallies on this issue, and the TMC supremo will lead a rally at Bolpur in Birbhum. A rally has already been held in Kolkata recently on this issue.