On International Mother Language Day, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee raised questions about what she described as the harassment of Bengali-speaking people in other states and the deletion of names from electoral rolls.
Addressing a programme held in memory of language martyrs, the Trinamool Congress chairperson said her government would not allow anyone’s rights to be taken away.
“We respect every language. Around 1.5 crore people from different states have been living in Bengal in harmony for years. We are committed to safeguarding their interests. Then why are Bengali-speaking people being attacked and harassed as infiltrators in several places over the past few months?” she asked.
Her remarks come amid political sparring over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and allegations from the Trinamool Congress that names of residents from West Bengal have been deleted in other states.
Banerjee said while she respects every language, “none has the right to show disrespect to our language in this way.” She questioned whether speaking in Bengali had become a “crime”.
“Why is Bengali asmita being dishonoured? Why are the rights of Bengalis being snatched?” she said, apparently alluding to the electoral roll exercise.
Without naming the BJP, she alleged that an “anti-religious, particularly anti-Bengal group” was trying to undermine the state’s identity.
“Bengali was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution in 1950. The language did not come from anyone’s mercy,” she said.
She also accused central agencies of attempting to “occupy Bengal by force” and said her party would not bow before “draconian powers”.
“We only bow before the people,” she added.
Framing Bengal’s linguistic identity within its intellectual and spiritual history, Banerjee invoked figures such as Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Rabindranath Tagore, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Surya Sen, Rajanikanta Sen, Lalon Fakir and Swami Vivekananda.
She claimed that a majority of martyrs in the freedom struggle were from Bengal and said, “You forget this truth as you don’t have any such role,” in an apparent swipe at the BJP.
On language policy, she said the classical language status for Bengali came later than for some other languages and credited the efforts of the state government and Education Minister Bratya Basu for securing the recognition.
She further alleged that writers and poets from Bengal were being overlooked by the Sahitya Akademi in recent years. The chief minister claimed that Sahitya Akademi did not choose any Bengali books last year, since one penned by her was on the list.
Highlighting her government’s position, Banerjee said recognition had been extended in the state to languages such as Rajbanshi, Nepali, Gurmukhi, Ol Chiki, Hindi and Urdu.
Describing “Amar Ekushe” as a symbol of humanity, she said it was a tribute to those who laid down their lives for the right to speak and express themselves in their mother tongue.
Earlier in the day, Banerjee laid wreaths at the language martyrs’ memorial at Deshapriyo Park in Kolkata.
