mamata-to-lead-protest-against-harassment-of-bengali-migrants

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is set to hit the streets once again— this time to protest what she calls the continued “harassment and humiliation” of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

 

The TMC supremo will lead a protest rally in Kolkata on July 16 to oppose the alleged mistreatment of Bengalis and the "insult to the mother tongue". The decision comes amid repeated reports of Bengali-speaking migrant workers being detained or attacked in various states under the suspicion of being ‘Bangladeshis’.

 

State Minister of Finance Chandrima Bhattacharya announced the protest on Sunday. “The procession will begin at 1 PM from central Kolkata’s College Street and culminate at Dorina Crossing at Esplanade,” she said, adding, “TMC workers and supporters from across Kolkata, Salt Lake and Howrah will join the march. At the forefront of this protest will be none other than our party’s chairperson and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee”.

 

Also read: Mamata slams NITI Aayog for showing Bihar in place of Bengal

 

Bhattacharya further added that similar protest marches will take place across every district of Bengal from 2 pm to 4 pm the same day, as part of a coordinated statewide agitation.

 

Earlier, Mamata has voiced strong objections to what she views as growing linguistic discrimination in the country. Speaking in the assembly earlier, she said, “India is a multilingual country. Just because someone speaks Bengali, does that make them Bangladeshi? Where is the logic in that?”

 

She accused the BJP of engaging in divisive politics based on language and targeting skilled migrant workers from Bengal who contribute significantly in other states. “Now they’re being jailed as Bangladeshis. This is a terrible injustice,” she had said in the assembly.

 

On Friday, Mamata also took to social media, warning: “If the people of Bengal are treated like uninvited guests in their own country, Bengal will not remain silent.”

 

Her decision to take to the streets is being seen as both a symbolic and political statement, as the state prepares for the upcoming 2026 Assembly elections. Political observers believe that Mamata is once again positioning herself as the voice of Bengali identity and regional pride in the face of what she describes as systemic alienation by the central leadership.