Attack on Bengali language: From Malda to Cooch Behar, TMC take out rallies
The Statesman | 5 September 2025From Malda to Cooch Behar, TMC leaders and supporters took to the streets in protest. In Cooch Behar town, a rally that began in the afternoon from the Lal Dighi area drew thousands of participants. The presence of women was particularly striking, while members of various organisations joined ordinary citizens in raising slogans against the BJP. The rally was led by TMC’s Cooch Behar district president Abhijit De Bhowmik.
Mr Bhowmik said similar demonstrations were held not only in Cooch Behar town but also in different blocks and regions of the district. “The demolition of the Bhasha Andolan stage is an attack on the self-respect of the people of Bengal. The BJP is trying to destroy democracy. We will not tolerate it,” he declared.
Meanwhile, in Malda, the TMC staged a protest meeting focusing on Bengali identity and the Bengali language. The meeting, held in Malda town, was attended by senior leaders including state TMC vice president Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, district vice president Shubhamoy Basu, district women’s wing president Pratibha Singh, district youth president Prosenjit Das, INTTUC leader Shubhadip Sanyal, Biswajit Halder, and former IPS officer Prasun Banerjee, who contested the recent Lok Sabha polls from Malda Uttar.
Speakers at the meeting accused the BJP of targeting Bengali culture and language, while condemning the alleged persecution of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states. Mr Choudhury, a former chairman of English Bazar Municipality, invoked Mamata Banerjee’s call to resist such attacks. “We must protest every attempt to undermine the Bengali language and Bengali-speaking people,” he said.
