Kolkata, Jul 27 (PTI) A TMC-linked civil society group on Sunday criticised the BJP, alleging that Bengali-speaking migrant workers were being harassed in the states it rules.
In a statement, the ‘Desh Bachao Gana Manch’ said the continuing “persecution” stems from the ignorance of the BJP about the contribution of Bengalis in the country.
“Despite these migrants in possession of every identity proof, many of them were detained in camps for days, pushed into the sea, and one of them even thrown to the other side of the Bangladesh border by a payloader. They are falsely branded as ‘Rohingya’ or ‘Bangladeshi’,” it alleged.
Noting that Bengali is the second-largest spoken language in Asia, it asked why one should be harassed for speaking the language.
“It has to be noted that people in West Bengal have always been accommodating to members of other linguistic communities who are eking out livelihood in the state for decades, and we are living peacefully side by side. Why should then be such intimidation and harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants from our state to some other parts of the country?” it asked.
“It is also to be noted that most of those persecuted are Bengali-speaking migrant Muslim citizens of India, which reveals the plot by the BJP to create rift and polarisation in society,” it alleged.
The group counts among its members several artists, poets and musicians who are associated with the TMC. PTI SUS SOM
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