Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, drenched in rain, held a massive protest march in Kolkata over alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states. The protest march, held in the heart of Kolkata, was also a show of unity as it was attended by all the top leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress, including Abhishek Banerjee.
Mamata, addressing the gathering, dared the Centre to put her in a detention camp. “I have decided that I will speak in Bengali more. Put me in a detention camp. BJP khela hobe. Just wait,” she said. Reports of detention of migrant workers in Odisha, linguistic profiling, and eviction drives in Delhi have become the latest flashpoint between the TMC and the BJP.
The trigger for the protest march was the recent detention of 444 suspected Bangladeshi nationals in Odisha’s Jharsuguda. The TMC has claimed that 200 of them were migrant workers from Bengal. The TMC has wasted no time in seizing the moment, by hitting the streets to champion the rights and dignity of Bengali-speaking migrant labourers. Around 22 lakh Bengal labourers work in other states.
The BJP government has issued a notification saying arrest suspected Bangladeshi nationals and keep them in detention camps. This has been sent to all BJP-ruled states. We will challenge that notification. How will you send everyone who speaks Bengali to jail ? Mamata further said.
West Bengal citizens have ID cards. They are working in other states because they have skills. They will make them work, but arrest them when they speak Bangla. Who has given you the right? Is Bengal not part of India? she thundered.
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