NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday launched a sharp attack against the BJP-led Centre at a protest rally in Kolkata, accusing the party of targeting and harassing Bengali-speaking people across BJP-ruled states. “I am ashamed and disheartened at the Centre and the BJP’s attitude towards Bengalis,” Banerjee said. Attacking the BJP directly, she added, “I have decided to speak more in Bangla from now on, hold me in detention camps if you can.”Speaking at a public meeting after leading a protest march in rain-drenched Kolkata, Banerjee alleged, “I will challenge the central government notices which were surreptitiously sent to BJP-ruled states to harass Bengali-speaking people and detain them at the slightest suspicion.”
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She also alleged that the ruling dispensation at the Centre was “influencing the Election Commission of India” to achieve its political ambitions. “BJP won in Maharashtra by removing names from electoral rolls, it is doing same in Bihar now,” she claimed. Warning of resistance, Banerjee said, “BJP has plans to remove names from Bengal’s electoral rolls, we will fight them inch by inch.”Taking on BJP’s alleged narrative linking Bengali migrants to illegal immigration, Banerjee said, “I challenge you to prove that Bengali-speaking migrants are Rohingya Muslims.”Also Read: Mamata hails NITI report on BengalAsserting that “22 lakh migrant workers from Bengal working in other parts of country, they have valid identity documents,” Banerjee said she would not tolerate any disrespect towards them. “What right does the BJP have in harassing Bengalis like this, even arresting them and forcefully pushing them back to Bangladesh? Is West Bengal not part of India?” she asked.Stating that “extreme situations call for extreme counter measures”, Banerjee said, “I will say this in the simplest of words. We will not fight you physically. But if the BJP doesn’t put an end to its persecution policies immediately, then the Trinamool Congress knows how to make them stop.”“If BJP sends Bengali-speaking people to detention camps, Bengal will politically detain it in polls,” she warned.Wednesday’s rally, attended by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, senior ministers and party leaders, was called to protest alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states. The Trinamool Congress said, “BJP’s assault on Bengali identity is no longer covert, it’s brutal, deliberate, and fuelled by hate.”
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