West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that those living in Bengal will have to learn to speak in Bengali. Without naming the BJP, she accused the saffron party of attacking Bengalis in the state.
“We have to bring forward Bangla language. We speak in Hindi when we go to Delhi. We speak in Punjabi when we go to Punjab. I do it myself. I don’t know the Tamil language but I know a few words. So if you are in Bengal, you have to speak in Bengali,” said Banerjee. She also said that her party will not allow outsiders to come to come to Bengal and assault Bangalis. She was addressing a public rally at Kanchrapara in North 24 Paraganas district.
The chief minister further alleged that in several areas of North 24 Paraganas district such as Barrackpore, Naihati and Kakinara, the houses of Bengalis were vandalised.
“We will not tolerate such acts of vandalism. Our party workers never vandalised the houses of non-Bengali people. We are against any kind of violence,” said the Chief Minister.
Reiterating her allegations of EVM tampering against BJP, Banerjee said that just because they have won a few seats by programming EVMs, that does not mean they can attack Bengali speaking people and minorities in the state.
“They have won a few seats by programming that does not mean they can attack Bengalis and minorities in Bengal. We will not tolerate this and ensure police action against such hooligans.
She defended her remark that outsiders were involved in the agitation of junior doctors at state-run medical colleges.
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