E-Paper
Mamata condemns ‘persecution’ of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee called it “extremely unfortunate” that a young migrant worker was beaten to death in Odisha’s Sambalpur on December 24
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday condemned what she called “the brutal oppression and persecution” of Bengali-speaking people in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states.
“We stand by those oppressed, terrified, and tortured migrant Bengali-speaking families, and we will provide all kinds of support to those families,” Banerjee wrote on X.
On Wednesday, three migrant workers from West Bengal’s Murshidabad were thrashed at Sambalpur in Odisha. Two of them managed to escape while one, Juyel Rana, was beaten to death over suspicion of being a Bangladeshi as he spoke in Bengali. Police said that it was not a targeted attack but linked to a fight over a beedi.
Banerjee called it extremely unfortunate that a young migrant worker was beaten to death in Sambalpur on December 24. “Migrant workers in Murshidabad are returning home terrified from Odisha. In this heartbreaking incident, we stand with the families, and our financial assistance to the family of the deceased will also reach them,” she wrote.
“In all these incidents in BJP-ruled states, our condemnation of the perpetrators and our promise of all kinds of help for the oppressed remain. Speaking the Bengali language cannot be a crime.”
A West Bengal police team is in Odisha for the investigation after lodging a case at the Suti police station in Murshidabad. In a post on X, the police said necessary arrangements were promptly made to bring the body of Rana to his native place. “All possible help is being extended by the district administration to the family of the deceased. West Bengal Police stands by the family in this hour of grief. We shall leave no stone unturned to press for the severest possible punishment for the guilty.”
There was no immediate response from the BJP or the Odisha government.
