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‘Atrocities of double-engine govts’: Mamata Banerjee accuses BJP-ruled states of ‘linguistic terror’ against Bengalis
TMC leaders have repeatedly accused the BJP of targeting Bengalis outside West Bengal and attempting to erase regional identities.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused BJP-ruled states of targeting Bengali-speaking workers from her state, alleging they are being harassed, detained, and even pushed into Bangladesh under the pretext of identity checks, which she called “linguistic terror”.
The TMC supremo, in a post on X, targeted the governments of Haryana and Rajasthan, accusing them of inflicting “tortures and tortures (sic)” on Bengali-speaking citizens.
She also questioned the motive behind what she called a deliberate campaign of persecution.
“Have been increasingly receiving reports of detentions and atrocities on our Bengali-speaking people from different districts of West Bengal in Gurgaon, Haryana. West Bengal police is receiving these reports from Haryana police in the name of requests for identity searches,” Banerjee wrote.
She further claimed that her government is getting reports from states like Rajasthan about illegal “pushbacks” of West Bengal citizens, even those with valid documents, into Bangladesh.
“There are tortures and tortures on hapless poor Bengali workers from West Bengal in these states. I am shocked to see these terrible atrocities of double-engine governments on Bengalis in India. What do you want to prove? This is atrocious and terrible. We are not going to tolerate this. Stop this linguistic terror,” she added.
Banerjee’s comments come at a time of escalating political friction between the TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), especially with the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections on the horizon.
TMC leaders have repeatedly accused the BJP of targeting Bengalis outside West Bengal and attempting to erase regional identities and languages under the banner of nationalism, reported PTI.
Just days earlier, at the party’s annual martyrs’ day rally on July 21, Banerjee had called for a ‘language movement’ to resist what she termed the BJP’s “linguistic terrorism”.
There was no immediate response from the Haryana or Rajasthan governments. However, BJP leaders in Bengal have previously dismissed such allegations as “baseless” and “fabricated for political gain”.
Banerjee’s latest remarks appear to underscore her intent to bring the issue of Bengali identity and dignity to the forefront of her campaign strategy ahead of 2026.
