Protests will rage if Bengalis are harassed, says Mamata

“If you target us in Delhi, there will be protests in Delhi and here [West Bengal]. If you target us in Maharashtra, there will be protests in Maharashtra and here also.. Do not belittle us in any way,” says Trinamool Congress chairperson

Raising the instances of targeting of migrant workers from West Bengal in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday (July 16, 2025) hit the streets in Kolkata and said protests would rage across the country if Bengalis continued to be harassed.

The Trinamool Congress chairperson, who led a procession from College Street to Esplanade, warned of dire consequences if targeting of Bengali migrants did not stop. 

“If you target us in Delhi, there will be protests in Delhi and here. If you target us in Maharashtra, there will be protests in Maharashtra and here also.. Do not belittle us in any way,” Ms. Banerjee told a gathering after the procession.

The Chief Minister claimed around 1,000 people had been arrested and put in “detention camps” in BJP-ruled States. She alleged that the Central government had surreptitiously issued a notification to BJP-ruled States to harass Bengali-speaking people and detain them at the slightest suspicion.

“The poor who go to work outside have to struggle. They would be better off here. But outside, they will be made to work and then sent to jail if they speak in Bengali. Why? What is your [BJP] right? Is West Bengal not in India? Is it not a part of India? Why so much hatred against Bengalis,” Ms. Banerjee said. Asserting that there were nearly 22 lakh migrant workers from Bengal working in other parts of the country, who had valid identity documents such as Aadhaar, voter ID and PAN cards, the Chief Minister said she would not tolerate any disrespect meted out to them on flimsy grounds.

During the three-km march, the Chief Minister was joined by several leaders of the ruling party, including Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

“Bengali identity”

The rally five days before the party’s mega July 21 rally assumes significance as the Trinamool Congress leadership is raising the issue of “Bengali identity” along with the targeting of migrants from the State. The issue of Bengali identity and pride had helped the party tide over the BJP in the 2021 Assembly polls. Reports of targeting of migrant workers from West Bengal have come from different parts of the country, including Odisha, Maharashtra and Delhi.

Also read | Matua migrants from Bengal being harassed in Pune: TMC MP

The Chief Minister also trained her guns on the Election Commission (EC) and said the “commission is full of BJP people”.

“When there are elections, they remove names, and the EC is there [to help them]. I do not disrespect them. But if they act as agents of the BJP, I will say, do not do it, we will not spare you,” Ms. Banerjee said.

The Trinamool Congress chairperson said she had heard that in Bihar about 35 lakh voters were being removed. “That is how they won in Maharashtra. They did the same in Delhi. Now they are planning the same in Bihar. They are planning it in Bengal too,” Ms. Banerjee said.

The Chief Minister vowed that she would not allow it to happen in West Bengal. “We will not budge an inch. We will show them that we will not give up a single inch of land without a fight,” she said.

On the day, the Trinamool Congress held a march to protest against the attack on migrants, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari met the State’s Chief Electoral Officer demanding revision of the voter list in West Bengal on the lines of special intensive revision in Bihar.