Three Bengal youths forced off train in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh

Kolkata: Targeted attacks against Bengali-speaking people apparently seem to continue unabated in BJP-ruled states. This time, three youths from Bengal were allegedly forced off a train in Chhattisgarh while travelling to Surat, Gujarat.

The victims—identified as Kartik Das, Rakesh Das and Ratan Das, residents of Ketugram and Class IX students from a local school in East Burdwan—were on their way to take up work at a bread factory when their journey was abruptly cut short.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) condemned the incident, alleging that the youths were forced off the train for speaking in Bengali. The three had left home last Friday, and on Saturday evening, their family members received calls informing them that the youths had been detained by the Raipur Railway Police.

TMC MLA from Keturam, Seikh Sahanawaz, said steps have been taken to safely bring them home. “We have taken up the issue at the administrative level. Bengali-speaking migrant workers are being victimised in BJP-ruled states. Our party has been carrying out protests against such incidents. A similar incident has again surfaced,” Sahanawaz added.

Incidentally, Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee last Friday alleged that migrant labourers were being tortured for speaking Bengali in BJP-ruled states.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee recently assured long-term solutions to solve the issue. He said his party would work towards a future where workers from Bengal would not be forced to migrate for survival.

“We will collect detailed data of migrant workers over the next three months and take steps so that no one from Bengal has to leave the state for livelihood,” Abhishek had stated.