Mamata launches 'Bhasha Andolan' from Bolpur, vows to fight 'linguistic terror'

She accused the BJP-led Centre and the Election Commission of trying to 'implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) through the backdoor' by targeting Bengali-speaking migrants and attempting to omit genuine voters from the electoral rolls.

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday led her Trinamool Congress to launch the second “Bhasha Andolan” (language movement) from the land of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore to protest the “linguistic terror” she accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of unleashing on the Bengali-speaking migrant workers from West Bengal in other states ruled by the saffron party.

“We have no enmity with any language. I am not against any language. I believe that unity in diversity is the foundation of our nation. But, if you try to erase our language and culture, we will resist peacefully, powerfully, and politically,” the TMC supremo said as she led the protest march in Bolpur – known for Shantiniketan and Vishwa Bharati established by Rabindranath Tagore.

The TMC over the past few weeks stepped up its attacks on the governments of the BJP-ruled states for the detention of migrant workers from West Bengal by police and, in some cases, even deportation to Bangladesh, often allegedly disregarding their claim of being genuine citizens of India.

Mamata, the chief minister of West Bengal since 2011, accused the BJP-led governments in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat and Delhi of harassing migrant workers from her state only because they spoke in Bengali, their mother language.

The chief minister, herself, carried the portraits of Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam and other Bengali literary and cultural icons as she led the protest march in Bolpur on Monday.

She noted that Bengali was the fifth-most spoken language in the world and the second-most in Asia.

“Yet, Bengalis are being tortured across states. Why this hatred? If Bengal can accept and shelter 1.5 crore migrant workers from other states, why can't you accept 22 lakh Bengali migrants working elsewhere?” she asked, apparently questioning the BJP governments of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.

With the assembly elections in West Bengal less than a year away, Mamata set the stage for her TMC to counter the saffron party’s aggressive Hindutva with an assertive Bangaliyana.

The first ‘Bhasha Andolan’ had taken place in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1952 to protest the imposition of Urdu and sidelining of Bengali in the eastern part of Pakistan. A police crackdown had resulted in the death of at least 29 protesting students on February 21, 1952. The United Nations later declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day.

“The BJP and the EC are conspiring against (West) Bengal. They want to do in Bengal what they did in Bihar through SIR (Special Intensive Revision). In Bihar, they have deleted the names of 40 lakh voters. If they try it here, we will never allow it,” she said, adding: “I will not allow NRC to be implemented in Bengal as long as I am alive. I won't allow detention camps to be built here. Try removing names from Bengal... there will be consequences.”