‘Did you ask Maldives president his religion before hugging’: Mamata Banerjee's jibe at PM Modi

Mamata Banerjee made the remark while speaking at a rally in Bolpur in Birbhum district.

Updated on: Jul 28, 2025, 17:54:16 IST

By HT News Desk

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West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday attacked the centre for allegedly depriving the state of funds even as she hit out over the recent announcement of India giving ₹4,850 crore Line of Credit to Maldives.

Mamata Banerjee has recently slammed BJP states over ‘linguistic terror’ on Bengalis. (AFP File)

Mamata Banerjee launched the 'Bhasha Andolan' (Language Movement) from Bolpur in Birbhum district, declaring that she would "give up her life, but not allow anyone to snatch her language", according to news agency PTI.

Mamata Banerjee, taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asked, “When you travel to Arab nations and hug the sheikhs, do you ask whether they are Hindus or Muslims?”

She also hit out at the PM's recent visit to Maldives and said, “Did you ask Maldives president his religion when you hugged him and donated 5,000 crore while depriving Bengal of its dues.”

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Mamata said that she doesn't want a division on the basis of language and protested against the alleged attacks on Bengali migrants.

She accused the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to "implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) through the backdoor" in Bengal by targeting Bengali-speaking migrants.

The Bengal CM accused the centre of waging a "linguistic terror" and vowed not to allow the construction of detention camps in Bengal.

"We will stop this conspiracy to jeopardise our existence in the name of linguistic terror and attempt to implement NRC by the backdoor," Banerjee said, according to PTI.

"I won't allow the implementation of NRC or the building of detention camps in Bengal," Mamata added.

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