Calling Bengali 'Bangladeshi Language' Is Insulting, Anti-National: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: A reference of Bengali language as “Bangladeshi language” in a letter of the Delhi Police under the union home ministry has triggered a massive controversy with West Bengal chief minister and Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee accusing the BJP of insulting the mother tongue of the people of the state.

The TMC posted the letter, recently sent by inspector Amit Dutt of Lodhi Colony police station in South Delhi to the Officer-in-Charge of Banga Bhawan about the arrest of eight “suspected Bangladeshi nationals,” on X-handle on Sunday. The subject of the letter stated, “Translation of documents containing text written in Bangladeshi language-regarding.”

Mr Dutt, who is also the investigating officer in the case, wrote, “The identification documents contain texts written in Bangladeshi and are needed to be translated to Hindi and English. Now, for the investigation to proceed further, it is requested that an official translator/interpreter proficient in Bangladeshi national language may kindly be provided for the aforesaid purpose.”

Lambasting the BJP, Ms Banerjee alleged, “See now how Delhi police under the direct control of Ministry of Home, Government of India is describing Bengali as "Bangladeshi" language! Bengali, our mother tongue, the language of Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, the language in which our National Anthem and the National Song (the latter by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) are 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!!

She claimed, “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.”

While her MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee echoed her call, Balurghat BJP MP and union minister Sukanta Majumdar said, “I haven't seen the letter. So I can't comment on it. It's true that the language spoken in Bengal and Bangladesh is the same with some minor exceptions in pronunciation. But it's also natural that when those, who were held, were suspected to be Bangladeshis, their language was perceived as Bangladeshi language.”