BJP goverments targeting Bengalis; labelling them Bangladeshi for speaking their tongue: Mamata
Accusing Bharatiya Janata Party governments in different parts of the country of targeting Bengali-speaking citizens, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that state governments are labelling residents of Bengal with valid documents as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
Addressing the State Assembly, the Chief Minister said that BJP ruled governments are depriving migrant workers of their right to earn a livelihood despite their possessing voter IDs, PAN, and Aadhaar cards.
'Despite having all the legal documents. Bengalis are being pushed into Bangladesh. If anyone speaks Bengali, they become Bangladeshi? This is happening in every state that has double engine governments,' Ms. Banerjee said.
Double engine discrimination
The Chief Minister had in the past alleged that migrant workers from the State are being targeted in BJP ruled states. On this occasion Ms. Banerjee accused the double engine states of language based discrimination.
Her remarks came a day after three residents of West Bengal, working in Mumbai were allegedly forced into Bangladesh by the BSF. The migrant workers, two from Murshidabad and one from Purba Bardhaman, however, were repatriated on Sunday to West Bengal after intervention by the State authorities.
The Chief Minister also targeted the West Bengal State BJP president, Sukanta Majumadar, calling him a 'half minister.' Mr. Majumdar is the Minister of State for Education & Development of the North Eastern Region and has been embroiled in a controversy for hurling a poster resembling a pair of slippers towards a police officer during protests near the Chief Minister's residence. 'There is a half-central minister who is in love with slippers. Why don't they (BJP) open slipper shops?' she said without naming anyone.
Denial of central funds
Ms. Banerjee spoke out on the denial of central funds to the State. She said that the Union Government sent 155 teams to the State looking for corruption and found nothing. She stressed that funds for MGNREGA have been stopped by the Centre and the State Government has subsequently started its own scheme named 'Karmashree,' as part of which it has created 1.5 crore mandays under various schemes.
'Bengal has topped road and rural housing project rankings five times in a row... No one can derail us or stop us from realising our dreams,' the Chief Minister said.
Ms. Banerjee also spoke about the political courtesy her party displayed over the Air India plane tragedy in Ahmedabad. 'BJP looted the country and sold it. Even on the day so many died in Gujarat, we didn't speak a word. That's called political courtesy,' Ms. Banerjee said.
BJP legislators raised slogans while the Chief Minister was addressing the State Assembly. During proceedings in the House on Monday two BJP legislators were escorted out of the House. The BJP legislator Manoj Oraon was suspended for a day by the Speaker Biman Banerjee for unruly behaviour.
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