Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that Bengali-speaking individuals were being subjected to persecution in BJP-ruled Assam, inviting a sharp rebuke from her Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma, who said people in the northeastern state were not divided based on their language and religion.
"The second most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second most spoken language of Assam. To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional," the Bengal chief minister wrote on her official X handle, claiming that people of Assam would fight back the divisive agenda of the BJP.
"I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity, and their democratic rights," added Mamata.
In less than half an hour, Biswa Sarma retaliated with a long social media post.
"In Assam, we are not fighting our own people. We are fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border, which has already caused an alarming demographic shift. In several districts, Hindus are now on the verge of becoming a minority in their own land. This is not a political narrative—it’s a reality. Even the Supreme Court of India has termed such infiltration as external aggression. And yet, when we rise to defend our land, culture, and identity, you choose to politicize it," Biswa Sarma wrote.
"We do not divide people by language or religion. Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Hindi—all languages and communities have coexisted here. But no civilisation can survive if it refuses to protect its borders and its cultural foundation," added the Assam chief minister.
Biswa Sarma accused Mamata of encouraging infiltration for vote bank politics, "compromising Bengal's future".
"While we are acting decisively to preserve Assam’s identity, you, Didi, have compromised Bengal’s future—encouraging illegal encroachment by a particular community, appeasing one religious community for vote banks, and remaining silent as border infiltration eats away at national integrity—all just to stay in power," he said.
The Trinamool Congress has been pushing a narrative that the BJP is against Bengalis after allegedly unlawful detentions of hundreds of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-ruled states like Maharashtra, Odisha, Delhi and Haryana. The Bengal government also accused the Centre of deporting Indian citizens to Bangladesh, alleging they were wrongly identified as foreign nationals. Seven such individuals from Bengal were later brought back following the state government's intervention.
Uttam Kumar Brajabashi, a member of the Rajbanshi community from Cooch Behar, had received a notice from a foreigners’ tribunal in Assam, asking him to prove his Indian citizenship. Otherwise, said the notice, he would be treated as an infiltrator.
Trinamool quickly seized on the issue, alleging that Assam was using the NRC to instil fear among Bengalis. The controversy deepened after Biswa Sarma reportedly said: “Writing Bengali as one’s mother tongue would determine the number of foreigners in Assam.”
Trinamool leaders reminded Biswa Sarma that India’s national anthem and national song are both in Bengali. They repeatedly cited Bengali polymaths like Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to underline the community’s contributions to the nation and counter the perceived targeting of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states.
On Saturday, Trinamool MP Samirul Islam posted a video of Sweety Biwi, a resident of Birbhum, allegedly deported to Bangladesh by Delhi police. Sharing the video, Islam criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his recent speech, where he said that his government would identify and throw out infiltrators.
In the video, Biwi says: “The Delhi police threatened us — saying we would be treated as Bangladeshis, even though we are not.”
Islam claimed that six people from Birbhum, including three minors, were currently struggling to survive in Bangladesh. The family has moved court and is awaiting repatriation.
“The Prime Minister keeps saying action will be taken against infiltrators. We have no objection to that. But why, then, was someone like Sweety Biwi — an Indian citizen — deported? Why didn’t Modi say a single word to defend Bengali-speaking Indian citizens harassed by BJP-ruled states?” asked Islam, who also chairs the West Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Board.
“There are Rajbanshis Matuas and people from various Hindu and Muslim communities being persecuted. Unfortunately, BJP leaders in Bengal are trying to label them all as Rohingyas,” he added.
CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said: "There is nothing important with the war of words between Mamata Banerjee and Himanta Biswa Sarma. The episode expressing concerns over Bengali-speaking people has been orchestrated for personal and political benefit."