Bolpur: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday launched the statewide ‘Bhasha Andolan’ from Bolpur, accusing the BJP of trying to erase Bengali identity and vowing to resist NRC, protect migrants, and stop what she called “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.
The CM launched her much-publicised ‘Bhasha Andolan’ (Language Movement) from the land of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, declaring that she would “give up her life but won’t allow anyone to snatch her language.”
Leading a rally of TMC supporters and returnee Bengali migrants, Banerjee said, “We will stop this conspiracy to jeopardise our existence in the name of linguistic terror and an attempt to implement NRC by the backdoor.”
“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. Are you ready to face the music from our mothers, our sisters, and our cultural groups when they decide to rise against you in non-violent manners?” she warned.
Waving to cheering crowds and holding a portrait of Tagore, Banerjee walked the three-kilometre-long protest march from the Tourist Lodge Crossing to Jamboni bus stand, flanked by ministers, senior party leaders, and local elected representatives.
“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,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee had last week issued a clarion call to TMC workers to prepare for a fresh agitation from July 28, calling it a second ‘Language Movement’, drawing parallels with the historic 1952 protest in Dhaka (then East Pakistan) where students sacrificed their lives demanding recognition of Bengali as an official language of Pakistan.
The United Nations later declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day to commemorate that struggle.
Alleging that the Election Commission was working at the behest of the Centre, Banerjee said, “A former minister in the BJP government is now trying to delete names of voters from the electoral list to assist his friend in the double-engine government. I dare them to omit genuine voters in the name of electoral roll revision. We will not allow them to make Bengalis homeless in their own country.”
Banerjee further invoked the cultural and historical legacy of Bengal, urging people never to forget their Asmita (pride), mother tongue, and motherland.
“You can forget everything, but you must not forget your roots. If Bengal can bring Independence and lead social reforms, it can very well fight for its own existence,” she declared.
The chief minister appealed to the alleged tortured migrants to return to Bengal.
“We are requesting all tortured Bengali migrants to come back. We have already devised a scheme to help returnees settle, secure a livelihood, and enrol their children in schools. We will give you full support through the police and administration,” she said.
In a sharp political attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Banerjee said, “When you travel to Arab nations and hug the sheikhs, do you ask whether they are Hindus or Muslims? Did you ask the Maldives President his religion before hugging him and donating Rs 5,000 crore, while depriving Bengal of its dues?”
She added, “I do not recognise the idea of a nation that butchers a migrant just for speaking Bengali.”
Stating that Bengali is the fifth-most spoken language in the world and the second-most in Asia, Banerjee questioned the ongoing discrimination.
“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.
The Bolpur protest march was not just political; it was rich in emotion and symbolism.
Banerjee wore her trademark white cotton sari and a traditional uttariya from Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan.
She invoked a pantheon of Bengali and national icons, Swami Vivekananda, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Matangini Hazra, Raja Rammohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar- to stress Bengal’s contribution in building the idea of India.
PTI
