‘Insult of Bengali language’: CM Mamata leads rally in Jhargram; attacks Centre over NRC, voter list revision | India News

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee (ANI picture)

NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief ministerMamata Banerjee on Wednesday led an enormous protest rally in Jhargram, denouncing the alleged attacks on Bengali-speaking migrants exterior the state and accusing the BJP of orchestrating a marketing campaign to harass Bengalis in the identify of citizenship and voter list revision.“How can someone be branded as Bangladeshi if he or she speaks in Bengali?” Banerjee questioned whereas addressing the gathering. “This is nothing but a conspiracy to harass our people,” she added.She additionally warned that she would expose the BJP if attacks on the Bengali language and its individuals proceed. “If you attack Bengali language and Bengal’s people, I will expose BJP before the world,” she mentioned. “If you attack Bengali language and Bengal’s people, I will not stay silent,” she added.The rally, centered across the message that the Bengali language and identification “will never be silenced,” noticed Banerjee strolling practically three kilometers via the tribal area. She was joined by senior Trinamool Congress leaders, cultural figures and native residents carrying placards that learn “Banglar Apoman Sojjyo Hobe Na” (Insult to Bengal will not be tolerated) and “Bangla Amar Ma” (Bengal, my mom). The rally witnessed widespread participation from migrant households, college students and native leaders, as Banerjee positioned herself because the defender of Bengali delight, language and identification.The protest was held in response to allegations of harassment and discrimination towards Bengali-speaking migrants in totally different elements of India.She additionally expressed robust objections to what she known as a deliberate try and marginalize Bengalis. “What right does the Assam government have to send NRC notices to people of Bengal?” she questioned.Banerjee additional alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list was getting used as a device to convey the National Register of Citizens (NRC) via the backdoor. “The SIR exercise is being undertaken to bring NRC through the backdoor. People are already dying by suicide out of fear,” she alleged.She cautioned officers towards excluding real voters from the electoral rolls. “Not a single elector should be omitted from the voter list in the name of Special Intensive Revision,” she asserted. Taking a dig on the BJP, she mentioned, “They are trying to make a BJP list, not a voter list.”Slamming the BJP’s demand for citizenship paperwork, Banerjee mentioned, “Do BJP leaders themselves have their birth certificates? What right do they have to question the identity of others?”