‘Is West Bengal not in India?’ Mamata Banerjee slams BJP at protest rally ahead of PM Modi’s visit to state

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday (Jul 16) slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people. While addressing a protest rally in Kolkata, Banerjee took aim at the BJP-ruled, claiming that people were being harassed based on language, identity, and political bias. The chief minister was speaking at a protest march, where thousands of people joined.

“The BJP calls all Bengali-speaking people Bangladeshi Rohingyas,” Banerjee said. “If someone speaks Bengali, you think you can call them Bangladeshi-Rohingya?... Bangladeshis are in Bangladesh, and Rohingyas live in Myanmar. What do we have here? Just West Bengal citizens. They have ID cards, Aadhar Cards, and PAN Cards. They work outside of West Bengal because they have skills…”

She further said, “Is West Bengal not in India? Is it not a part of the country? There are many states where only one language is spoken. This does not mean that those people must be jailed... When Hindi speakers were ousted from Maharashtra, we were the first to raise a voice... We respect all the people from different states who live here, whether they are labourers, businessmen, shopkeepers, hawkers, or employees. We will never attack them because they are a part of us and our country. We love them. We respect every language.”

She also alleged that the names of Bengali voters are being removed from the states. “They are removing names as the elections approach. There is the Election Commission, and we respect it. But if someone works for the BJP, then we will not let it go. They removed 30.5 lakh voters in Bihar. This is how they won in Maharashtra and Delhi. They are planning the same for Bihar. They want to do the same in Bengal, but we will fight inch by inch.”

Why are protests being held in West Bengal?

Ahead of the assembly election in West Bengal, which is expected to be held in March-April 2026, Trinamool Congress (TMC) is holding protest rallies over alleged systematic discrimination and attempts to brand Bengali speakers as “illegal immigrants”. This comes after a series of incidents recently, including the detention of migrant workers in Odisha, eviction drives in Delhi, and a notice issued to a farmer in Cooch Behar by a foreigners’ tribunal in Assam.

The 3-km-long route began at the College Square in central Kolkata around 1:45 pm and will terminate at Dorina Crossing in Dharmatala. Nearly 1,500 police personnel have been deployed to guard the barricaded pavements and adjacent buildings. The traffic was diverted along multiple arterial roads in the central parts due to the march.

The protests in West Bengal are being held ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to West Bengal on July 18. Similar demonstrations were held by the TMC in the district headquarters towns across the state.