Bolpur (WB): In a fiery escalation of her anti-BJP offensive ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday launched ‘Bhasha Andolan’ (Language Movement), accusing the Centre and the EC of conspiring to implement the NRC “through the backdoor” and unleashing “linguistic terror” on Bengali-speaking migrants.
Launching the statewide ‘Bengali Language Movement’ from Bolpur, the cultural crucible shaped by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Banerjee declared she would “give up her life but not her language” and vowed to stand against attempts to erase Bengali asmita (pride), disenfranchise the poor, or drive out migrants under the guise of electoral roll revision.
She alleged that the BJP-led Centre, in collusion with the EC, was targeting minorities, OBCs, the poor, and Bengali-speaking voters through the Special Summary Revision, to strike off genuine names from the voter list in a covert NRC-like exercise.
Daring the EC to delete names of genuine voters, Banerjee warned that such “steps would attract consequences.”
Leading a rally of TMC supporters and returnee Bengali migrants, Banerjee said, “We will stop this conspiracy to jeopardise our existence in the name of linguistic terror and an attempt to implement NRC by the backdoor.”
“I will not allow NRC to be implemented in Bengal as long as I am alive. I won’t allow detention camps to be built here. Try removing names from Bengal… there will be consequences. Are you ready to face the music from our mothers, our sisters, and our cultural groups when they decide to rise against you in non-violent manners?” she warned.
Waving to cheering crowds and holding a portrait of Tagore, Banerjee walked the three-kilometre-long protest march from the Tourist Lodge Crossing to Jamboni bus stand, flanked by ministers, senior party leaders, and local elected representatives.
“We have no enmity with any language. I am not against any language. I believe that unity in diversity is the foundation of our nation. But if you try to erase our language and culture, we will resist peacefully, powerfully, and politically,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee had last week issued a clarion call to TMC workers to prepare for a fresh agitation from July 28, calling it a second ‘Language Movement’, drawing parallels with the historic 1952 protest in Dhaka (then East Pakistan) where students sacrificed their lives demanding recognition of Bengali as an official language of Pakistan.
The United Nations later declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day to commemorate that struggle.
Alleging that the Election Commission was working at the behest of the Centre, Banerjee said, “A former minister in the BJP government is now trying to delete names of voters from the electoral list to assist his friend in the double-engine government. I dare them to omit genuine voters in the name of electoral roll revision. We will not allow them to make Bengalis homeless in their own country.”
“I warn the Election Commission – if you dare delete names from Bengal’s voter list, you will witness Chhau dance, dhamsa-madol, conch shells, cymbals, and war drums. Have you heard such sounds before? We will make you hear them,” she said, drawing cheers from the audience.
In a veiled warning to the state block-level officers, who also serve as EC officials during the electoral roll revision process, she said, “Remember, BLOs are government employees of this state. Do not harass people in the name of voter list revision.”
Banerjee further invoked the cultural and historical legacy of Bengal, urging people never to forget their Asmita (pride), mother tongue, and motherland.
“You can forget everything, but you must not forget your roots. If Bengal can bring Independence and lead social reforms, it can very well fight for its own existence,” she declared.
“We are requesting all tortured Bengali migrants to come back. We have already devised a scheme to help returnees settle, secure a livelihood, and enrol their children in schools. We will give you full support through the police and administration,” she said.
In a sharp political attack on PM Narendra Modi, Banerjee said, “When you travel to Arab nations and hug the sheikhs, do you ask whether they are Hindus or Muslims? Did you ask the Maldives President his religion before hugging him and donating Rs 5,000 crore, while depriving Bengal of its dues?”
Stating that Bengali is the fifth-most spoken language in the world and the second-most in Asia, Banerjee questioned the ongoing discrimination.
“Yet, Bengalis are being tortured across states. Why this hatred? If Bengal can accept and shelter 1.5 crore migrant workers from other states, why can’t you accept 22 lakh Bengali migrants working elsewhere?” she asked.
The Bolpur protest march was not just political; it was rich in emotion and symbolism.
Banerjee wore her trademark white cotton sari and a traditional uttariya from Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan.
Raising slogans of “Joy Bangla” and “Jai Hind” at the end of her speech, Banerjee urged TMC workers to spread the language movement to every district of Bengal.
“You need to fight these divisive forces on the streets. If you steal our addresses and try to make us stateless, we will ensure that you, too, are left without one,” she warned.
