Using ‘Bangladeshi for Bangla’ an insult to Bengali culture: Trinamool

The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has taken strong objection to a letter by the Delhi police describing Bangla, or Bengali, as a “Bangladeshi” language and called for strong protests on Sunday (August 3, 2025).

A letter on July 29 from the Officer-in-Charge, Police Station Lodhi House, to the Officer-in-Charge, Banga Bhawan, requested the translation of documents containing text written in the “Bangladeshi language.” The communication was in connection with an FIR lodged in Delhi in connection with eight persons suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals residing in the national capital.

Ms. Banerjee said calling the Bengali language a Bangladeshi language is “scandalous, insulting, anti- national, and unconstitutional! This insults all Bengali-speaking people of India. They cannot use this language, which degrades and debases us all.”

Anti-Bengali government

The Trinamool Congress chairperson took to social media and called for “immediate, and the strongest possible protests against the anti-Bengali Government of India, who are using anti-Constitutional language to insult and humiliate the Bengali speaking people of India.”

The West Bengal Chief Minister also emphasised that both the “national anthem and national song are written in Bengali.” The language which crores of Indians speak and write, and is recognised by the Constitution of India, is now being described as a “Bangladeshi language.”

The development comes while the Trinamool Congress has been calling for Bengali Asmita over the targeting of migrant workers in BJP ruled states. The Trinamool leadership has called for protests in the form of a “language movement” scheduled to continue till next year’s Assembly polls.

Undermining cultural identity

The party’s general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, said it was “not a mere clerical error,” but another “calculated attempt by the BJP to defame Bengal, undermine our cultural identity, and equate West Bengal with Bangladesh for narrow political propaganda.”

“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,” he said. The Trinamool Congress leader demanded the immediate suspension of Investigating Officer Amit Dutt, and a formal public apology from @DelhiPolice, @BJP4India, and the Home Ministry led by @AmitShah. “Bangla and Bengalis are Indian. Bangla is our pride. We will not allow our identity to be trampled upon,” he added.

Several other leaders of the West Bengal ruling party took to social media. The party also held a press conference where Education Minister Bratya Basu and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that by falsely branding Bengali as a “Bangladeshi language” — the @BJP4India is pushing its anti-Bengali agenda to dangerous extremes.

Weaponising language

BJP leader Amit Malviya accused the West Bengal Chief Minister of “weaponising language and stoking sentiment over a lawful police action against Bangladeshi infiltrators.”

“Let us be absolutely clear: all illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators and Rohingyas will be dealt with strictly, as per the law of the land. No political grandstanding or vote-bank politics will come in the way of protecting India’s sovereignty and national security,” he posted on social media.