Bengali family ‘forced’ to return to Balurghat after harassment in Ggm

BALURGHAT: A chilling incident of linguistic harassment has come to light after a Bengali-speaking family from Balurghat’s Ward No. 16 was forced to return home from Gurugram, Haryana. The family, led by 38-year-old Dulal Sarkar, alleged that they were beaten and branded as “Bangladeshis” by locals solely because they spoke Bengali.

Dulal, who ran a rent-a-car service in Gurugram, returned to Balurghat on Tuesday with his father, wife and 14-year-old daughter. Recalling the ordeal with visible distress, Dulal said: “I went there to earn a livelihood for my family. But just because I spoke in Bengali, people began to taunt me. Eventually, they assaulted me and called me a Bangladeshi. I could no longer risk my family’s safety.”

The disturbing incident has drawn strong reactions in Balurghat. On Wednesday, Balurghat Municipality chairman Ashok Kumar Mitra and local Ward No. 16 councillor Abhijit Saha visited the Sarkar residence and assured support.

Chairman Mitra expressed deep concern over the rising trend of targeting Bengalis in certain parts of the country. “India is a secular nation where people of different faiths, languages and cultures have coexisted peacefully for generations. Sadly, in BJP-ruled states like Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi, Bengalis are being harassed and branded as outsiders. This goes against the very spirit of our nation. Let us not forget that nearly 80 per cent of the freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for India’s independence were Bengalis,” he said.

Mitra further assured the family of all state government facilities and promised special assistance for the schooling of Dulal’s daughter. “The girl’s education will not suffer. We will stand beside this family in every possible way,” he added.

Councillor Abhijit Saha also condemned the incident, saying: “No Indian should ever be made to feel like an outsider in his own country.

What happened to the Sarkar family is an insult to our constitutional values. We will ensure they receive justice and dignity back home.”

With tears in his eyes, Dulal’s father quietly remarked that his family had only sought a better livelihood but returned with scars of humiliation. The community in Balurghat has since rallied in solidarity with the family, vowing to support them through their ordeal.