Odisha lynching: Mamata vows support for ‘oppressed’ Bengali migrants

KOLKATA: Days after a 30-year-old migrant worker from Bengal was allegedly killed in Sambalpur district of BJP-ruled Odisha, condemning the ‘oppression and persecution’ upon Bengali-speaking people in every BJP-ruled state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday vowed to provide all kinds of support to such ‘oppressed, terrified, and tortured migrant Bengali-speaking families’. Referring to the incident of the alleged beating to death of Juyel Rana, a young migrant worker from Jangipur in Murshidabad at Sambalpur in Odisha, Banerjee informed that the police have already filed a zero FIR at Suti Police Station, and six people have already been arrested. “We strongly condemn the brutal oppression and persecution that has descended upon Bengali-speaking people in every BJP-ruled state. We stand by those oppressed, terrified, and tortured migrant Bengali-speaking families, and we will provide all kinds of support to those families. No value can compensate for human lives, but in cases where deaths have occurred, we remain committed to economic compensation,” Banerjee wrote in her X handle. She referred to the recent various forms of oppression that have descended upon some migrant workers from the Jangipur area in BJP-ruled Odisha state.

“It is extremely unfortunate that a young migrant worker from the Suti area of Jangipur was beaten to death in Sambalpur on December 24th. Migrant workers in Murshidabad are returning home terrified from Odisha. In this heartbreaking incident, we stand with the families, and our financial assistance to the family of the deceased will also reach them. In all these incidents in BJP-ruled states, our condemnation of the perpetrators and our promise of all kinds of help for the oppressed remain,” she wrote. Reiterating that speaking the Bengali language cannot be a crime, she stated that in the matter of the deceased young Juyel Rana, the West Bengal Police has already filed a zero FIR at Suti Police Station, and six people have already been arrested. “A police team from my state has gone to Odisha for investigation,” maintained Banerjee, who also heads the state Home department. The West Bengal Police confirmed the fact in the matter of the unfortunate death of Juyel Rana on December 24 in Sambalpur, Odisha, in the hands of some assailants, a Zero FIR has been registered at Suti police station, and the same has been transmitted to the concerned Police Station for necessary legal action. “6 persons have so far been arrested in this incident. A police team has been sent to Odisha to conduct an enquiry at the place of occurrence,” the Bengal police posted in its X handle. The police further informed that necessary arrangements were promptly made to bring the body of the deceased to his native place. “All possible help is being extended by the district administration to the family of the deceased. West Bengal Police stands by the family in this hour of grief. We shall leave no stones unturned to press for the highest possible punishment for the guilty,” the Bengal Police’s post read.