Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday cited a report by New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) to double down her campaign on a “concerted effort” by BJP-led state governments to harass Bengali-speaking people, particularly Muslims. .
In a post on X, Mamata said the “internationally reputed and New York-based multi-country NGO” had highlighted the “harassment, persecution, and illegal deportation of Bengali-speaking people of India by the BJP governments in various States”.
“Now, even international human rights organisations have started taking note of the linguistic terrorism unleashed in India,” Mamata wrote.
The chief minister who has been vocal against the alleged mistreatment of Bengali-speaking people in other states, has called for a new language movement against the BJP’s alleged anti-Bengali rhetoric.
The chief minister is likely to participate in one such rally in Birbhum on Sunday.
HRW, which released its report on Thursday, alleged that India’s ruling BJP was targeting Bengali Muslims — many of them Indian citizens — for political purposes, expelling hundreds to Bangladesh without verifying their citizenship claims.
The report cited a directive issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs to BJP-ruled states, including Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha and Delhi.
“India’s ruling BJP is fueling discrimination by arbitrarily expelling Bengali Muslims from the country, including Indian citizens,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia Director at HRW. “The authorities' claims that they are managing irregular migration are unconvincing.”
Mamata picked the HRW Asia director’s comment as a testimony to her allegations against the BJP.
“Elaine Pearson, Asia Director at HRW, has on record said, BJP is fuelling discrimination by arbitrarily expelling Bengalis from the country, including Indian citizens. The authorities’ claims that they are managing irregular migration are unconvincing,” Mamata observed.
Between May 7 and June 15, at least 1,500 people including men, women and children were deported to Bangladesh, according to HRW, which based its numbers on a report by Border Guard Bangladesh. This figure also includes around 100 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
The deportations, the rights group said, often involved coercion, violence and seizure of identity documents. One such account is of Khairul Islam, a 51-year-old former schoolteacher from Assam, who told HRW that on May 26, he was beaten by Indian border officials and forced into Bangladesh along with 14 others.
“The BSF officer beat me when I refused to cross the border into Bangladesh and fired rubber bullets four times in the air,” he said, adding that he returned to India two weeks later.
Another case cited by HRW involved a migrant worker in Mumbai whose house was raided by police. His phone was seized, and identity papers including citizenship documents were allegedly torn up before he was deported.
HRW said most of those deported were marginalised Bengali-speaking migrant workers residing in BJP-ruled states, and that in many cases, due process was not followed.
Mamata Banerjee has long raised concern over alleged discrimination against Bengalis and Muslims under the NRC and CAA regimes, particularly in Assam.