Is speaking Bengali a crime? Mamata Banerjee claims migrants detained in Rajasthan

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday strongly protested the alleged ill-treatment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in Rajasthan, asserting that they were being called "Bangladeshis". She claimed they were detained and pushed to Bangladesh due to misunderstandings.

Banerjee's remarks came after reports surfaced that around 300 people from Khisahar village in Uttar Dinajpur district and neighbouring areas were "detained" in Rajasthan.

Raising the issue in the state Assembly, Banerjee showed pictures of the stranded workers and targeted the BJP government in Rajasthan. "What crime have we committed by speaking in Bengali?" she asked, while alleging that the migrant workers in BJP-ruled states were being harassed and called Bangladeshis.

"I don't know if the PM (Narendra Modi) knows about it or not. Doesn't the Union Home Ministry know this is happening? Is speaking Bengali a crime? Hundreds of Bengali migrant workers are detained in Rajasthan. They have informed us. It is in every BJP state. They are pushing back Bengalis as Bangladeshis to Bangladesh," she alleged.

Banerjee reminded the antiquity and greatness of the Bengali language, citing Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore as examples. "What language did Vivekananda speak? What language did Rabindranath Tagore speak? Then, tell me that Bengali is banned," she said.

She said she directed her Chief Secretary to talk to the Chief Secretary of Rajasthan regarding the rescue of the stranded workers. She also announced her intention to take to the streets in protest, asserting that the situation was "terrible".

"The Prime Minister musn't be aware of this. I will inform him," she said.

It has been learnt from the Trinamool Congress MLA from Itahar, Mosharraf Hossain, that about 300 people from Khisahar village and neighbouring villages have been detained in Rajasthan for being "Bangladeshis".

The workers contacted Hossain, who in turn, reported the matter to Rajasthan's Director General of Police (DGP). Hossain had requested that arrangements be made to rescue the stranded workers.

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