Many thousands of supporters joined West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on a huge protest march at Kolkata on Wednesday, in what she termed as a discriminatory approach of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) towards Bengali-speaking people in BJP-governing states. Demonstration was also participated by many high-profile party leaders who have attended the demonstration and senior leaders of Trinamool Congress (TMC), including TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The scheduled time of start of the protest march at 1:45 PM and the place, College Square, central Kolkata, and going to Dorina Crossing, Dharmatala, was approximately 3 kilometers. The venue was put under intense security, where approximately 1,500 police officers were present along the pathway. Several city arterial roads were used to divert traffic so as to accommodate the rally.
Speaking to the huge crowd, Mamata Banerjee criticized the BJP, saying, “The BJP describes all the Bengali-speaking population as the Bangladesh Rohingyas. That is ridiculous. Rohingyas are of Myanmar origin and not here. Every West Bengal citizen possesses an adequate and legal identification and documents.” She continued to state, “There are a good number of our skilled workers who go outside the state in search of jobs. They are now being detained just because they speak Bengali. Why is it so? Is West Bengal of Indian? I am embarrassed and offended by the mindsets of the Bengalis of the BJP.”
The TMC also used the same tactic to hold such protests in other district headquarters of West Bengal. The protests occur a day after the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due in the state, and also less than a year before the West Bengal Assembly polls.
The TMC accuses the BJP of systematically isolating Bengali speakers through linguistic profiling, unlawful detention, and labeling them illegal immigrants. Recent cases such as the arrest of migrant workers in Odisha, eviction campaigns in Delhi, and the notice to a farmer in Cooch Behar by a foreign tribunal.
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