Amit Malviya, chief of the BJP’s IT cell, provided cannon fodder to Bengal’s ruling party on Monday when he declared that “there is no language called Bengali...”
The full-toss, to use a cricketing metaphor, came as the Trinamool Congress was already on the offensive, accusing the BJP of running an “anti-Bengali” witch-hunt.
Malviya’s post gave them all the ammunition they needed.
Malviya in a social media post had tried to justify the Delhi police’s reference to Bangla as a “Bangladeshi language” in an FIR against alleged illegal immigrants.
“There is, in fact, no language called ‘Bengali’ that neatly covers all these variants. ‘Bengali’ denotes ethnicity, not linguistic uniformity. So, when the Delhi Police uses ‘Bangladeshi language,’ it is a shorthand for the linguistic markers used to profile illegal immigrants from Bangladesh—not a commentary on Bengali as spoken in West Bengal," he had written.
He claimed that dialects like Sylheti, commonly spoken in parts of Bangladesh and India’s Barak Valley, were “nearly incomprehensible” to Indian Bengalis and could therefore be used to distinguish illegal migrants.
The backlash was swift.
“In his usual cocktail of arrogance, ignorance and deep-seated hatred, BJP’s certified troll @amitmalviya has now declared that ‘there is no language called Bengali’,” the Trinamool Congress wrote on X.
“This is a calculated attack on Bengal’s identity, culture, and language. BJP is terrified of Bengal — its intellect, its pride, and its refusal to bend. And so, they try to erase us. But we won’t be silent. Touch Bangla, and Bengal will burn your politics to the ground,” the party said in a scathing rebuttal.
Why Sylheti?
Malviya’s argument rests on the linguistic differences within what is broadly known as Bangla or Bengali. Sylheti, a regional dialect spoken in northeastern Bangladesh and parts of Assam, was used as a convenient wedge.
The BJP IT cell head implied that those speaking Sylheti could be flagged as Bangladeshi.
TMC MP Sushmita Dev, a native Sylheti speaker from Assam’s Barak Valley, tore into the argument: "Sylheti is spoken by lakhs in Barak Valley, Assam. Our families have lived here since 1874. This is our land, our language. To label us as Bangladeshi is a disgrace.”
MP Saket Gokhale was less diplomatic, replying to Malviya’s post with: “Stop it, CHOMU! Just because a document is written in the US doesn’t make it the ‘American language.’ You don’t call English 'American.' Calling Bangla ‘Bangladeshi’ is not ignorance — it’s treason. This is linguistic genocide.”
Beyond Bengal
The outrage spilled over state lines.
Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK leader M.K. Stalin called Malviya’s post “an insult to the language of our National Anthem.”
“These are not slips. They reflect the core of a regime that systematically dismantles India’s diversity,” Stalin wrote. “In the face of this assault on non-Hindi languages, Mamata Didi stands as a shield for the language and people of West Bengal.”
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi also stepped in, saying: “First, they label Bengalis Bangladeshis under CAA. Now, they say their language is foreign. This is not nationalism. This is xenophobia weaponised for political gain.”
Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee said: “Malviya wouldn’t make such idiotic comments if he truly understood what it meant to be Indian.”
Even as the criticism mounted, the BJP’s Bengal unit tried to distance itself from Malviya’s post. MLA Shankar Ghosh said, “Our state president has addressed the matter. As far as I know, no such remark was made.”
The ball was by then outside the boundary.