Kolkata | West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamta Banerjee on Sunday lashed out at the Delhi Police for referring to the Bengali language as "Bangladeshi national language" in a purported letter, alleging that it was "insulting, anti-national and unconstitutional".
Party national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee, who also shared the letter on X, echoed his party chief's sentiment and alleged that it was a calculated attempt by the BJP to "defame Bengal".
BJP's state president Samik Bhattacharya justified the Delhi Police's action and said there is a difference in the dialect of the Bengali language spoken and written in West Bengal with that of Bangladesh.
The BJP also alleged that the TMC was trying to defend illegal Bangladeshi migrants who, the party said, speak a heavily Urdu-influenced Bengali dialect.
The letter, linked to an investigation of a case under the 'Foreigners' Act', was written to the officer-in-charge of Banga Bhawan, the official guest house of the state government in the national capital.
"See now how Delhi Police under the direct control of the Ministry of Home, Government of India, is describing Bengali as "Bangladeshi" language!" Banerjee posted on her Facebook account, sharing a copy of the letter.
Banerjee said that Bengali is not only her mother tongue but also the language of Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda.
The TMC supremo described the Centre as anti-Bengali and urged all to stage protests against such "anti-Constitutional language to insult and humiliate Bengali-speaking people of India".
She also said that Bengali was the language in which both India's national anthem, 'Jana Gana Mana' by Tagore and national song 'Vande Mataram' by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay were written.
"... the language in which crores of Indians speak and write, the language which is sanctified and recognised by the Constitution of India, is now described as a Bangladeshi language!!" Banerjee said.
"Scandalous, insulting, anti-national, unconstitutional!! This insults all Bengali-speaking people of India. They cannot use this kind of language, which degrades and debases us all. We urge immediate, strongest possible protests from all against the anti-Bengali Government of India, who are using such anti-Constitutional language to insult and humiliate the Bengali-speaking people of India," she said.
Earlier in the day, the TMC posted a letter, in its X handle, claiming that the police officer in charge of the investigation has written to the Banga Bhawan in the national capital, seeking a translator for "Bangladeshi national language" following the arrest of eight people, suspected to have illegally crossed over into India from the neighbouring country.
The Diamond Harbour MP took to his social networking site to post, "For months now, Bengali-speaking people have been targeted, harassed and detained across BJP-ruled states. Now, in a shocking escalation, @DelhiPolice has officially referred to Bangla as a "Bangladeshi language" in an official letter.
Maintaining that this is not a mere clerical error, Banerjee alleged, "It is yet another calculated attempt by the BJP to defame Bengal, undermine our cultural identity and equate West Bengal with Bangladesh for narrow political propaganda."
He claimed that it was a direct violation of Article 343 and the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and went on to say that there is no language called Bangladeshi.
"To call Bangla a foreign language is not just an insult; it's an attack on our identity, culture and belonging. Bengalis are not outsiders in their own homeland," Banerjee claimed.
"This is why we call the BJP Bangla Birodhi (anti-Bengal) and zamindar. They do not respect India's diversity. They thrive on division," the TMC national general secretary alleged.
Banerjee demanded the suspension of the Delhi Police officer.
"We demand the immediate suspension of Investigating Officer Amit Dutt and a formal public apology from @DelhiPolice, @BJP4India, and the Home Ministry led by @AmitShah," he wrote.
He also asserted that "Bangla and Bengalis are Indians" and "Bangla is our pride".
"We will not allow our identity to be trampled," Banerjee wrote.
Meanwhile, the BJP president further claimed that the police have rightly referred to the dialect spoken by the arrested persons as "Bangladeshi language".
The West Bengal BJP, which also posted a copy of the letter of the Delhi Police on the X handle, said, "Now, TMC is outrageously claiming this is an 'insult to our language. But here's the irony their entire outrage is rooted in defending Bangladeshis. What does that have to do with India or Indian Bengalis?
"Let's get this straight for TMC, a heavily Urdu-influenced dialect spoken by illegal migrants is now the real Bengali language? Is this what TMC politics has come to defending foreign nationals while eroding Indian identity?" the saffron party posted.
