BJP states treat Bengalis like infiltrators in own country: Mamata
Times of India | 11 July 2025
Kolkata: BJP-governed states were treating Bengalis as infiltrators in their own country, CM Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday, adding: "Speaking Bengali does not make one a Bangladeshi.
"Reacting sharply to fresh reports that Delhi Police had snapped water and electricity connections to Vasant Kunj's Jai Hind Colony, where a large number of Bengali-speaking migrants live, Banerjee said: "How can we claim to be a democratic republic if the basic rights to shelter, water and electricity are being trampled upon?""We will not remain silent while people from Bengal are treated like trespassers in their own country. Bengal stands in solidarity with every oppressed voice. We will raise this issue in every possible forum," she added.
In a post on X, the CM said: "There are over 1.5 crore migrant workers in Bengal who live with dignity. But the same cannot be said for BJP-governed states, where Bengalis are being treated as infiltrators in their own country. Speaking Bengali does not make one a Bangladeshi. These individuals are as much citizens of India as anyone else, regardless of what language they speak.
""Having failed in their attempts to deprive Bengalis in West Bengal, BJP is now exporting their Bangla-Birodhi agenda to other parts of the country in a strategic and systemic manner. Disturbing reports have emerged from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, where Bengali-speaking individuals are facing targeted persecution. And now, this pattern of hostility has reached even the national capital," she alleged.
Referring to the news from Delhi, the CM said: "I am deeply disturbed by the alarming news of harassment emerging from Jai Hind Colony in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi — a settlement predominantly inhabited by Bengalis who build the city as part of its unorganised workforce... Their water supply was reportedly cut on orders from the BJP-led govt. Electricity meters were confiscated, and power was abruptly cut the day before yesterday.
""Residents also claim Delhi Police, backed by RAF personnel, blocked private water tankers they had arranged and paid for. A forced eviction is currently underway despite the matter being sub judice following another transgression last Dec by Delhi Police," the CM said.
Banerjee's statement comes a day before Calcutta High Court hears two habeas corpus petitions, alleging that six Birbhum residents, including three minors, who worked as ragpickers in Delhi were labelled ‘Bangladeshi' and nabbed by police on June 18 and pushed into Bangladesh by BSF on June 26. The pleas said two families of migrant workers were picked up by Delhi Police during an "identity verification drive" among the Bengali-speaking population.