Latest news with #Bengali-majority
Time of India
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Barak leaders slam Malviya for calling Sylheti ‘B'deshi language'
Silchar: Leaders from various parties in the Barak Valley, including BJP, have criticised the party's IT cell head Amit Malviya for calling Sylheti, a dialect of Bengali, a "Bangladeshi language". The remark defending Delhi Police's controversial terminology, has sparked widespread backlash in Assam's Bengali-majority regions. BJP RS MP from Silchar, Kanad Purkayastha, wrote to Malviya, expressing "deep disappointment" over the remark. "You must be aware that at least 50 lakh Sylheti-speaking Bengalis reside in India, with the Barak Valley alone having a majority population of Sylheti speakers," he wrote. Purkayastha pointed out that several MPs, including himself, Sushmita Dev and Parimal Suklabaidya, speak Sylheti, as do many MLAs in Assam and Tripura. Listing historical figures such as Bipin Chandra Pal, Nibaran Chandra Laskar, and Kamala Bhattacharya — all Sylheti speakers — the MP added, "Since this debate has hurt the sentiments of over five million people, I felt it was important to present these facts." Former Silchar MP and BJP leader Rajdeep Roy said, "Over 70 lakh Indians across the Barak Valley, Tripura, and Meghalaya speak Sylheti." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like What My Mother Tells Me: Don't Eat Pineapple And Other Pregnancy Myths Undo TMC MP Sushmita Dev said, "Such poor knowledge of our history. Shame on BJP." Various civil society groups and student organisations in Barak Valley have also expressed outrage, terming the remark an affront to linguistic pride. The controversy was triggered after Delhi Police issued a call for translators of the "Bangladeshi language", prompting clarification from Malviya. In his post, he claimed Sylheti is "nearly incomprehensible to Indian Bengalis" and used by "infiltrators", drawing sharp criticism from Sylheti-speaking communities across Northeast India. Political observers say the backlash highlights the sensitive nature of language politics in Assam, especially in Barak Valley where language movements have historically played a major role. With opposition parties seizing the opportunity, the BJP may now be forced to undertake damage control in a region considered one of its strongholds in Assam.
Indian Express
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
In Assam, 50 arrested since Pahalgam for posts police say ‘pro-Pakistan'
The number of those arrested by Assam Police as part of the state's crackdown on what it calls 'Pakistan sympathisers' in the wake of the Pahalgam attack has touched 50 — from students held after complaints by ABVP members to a 25-year-old traced and arrested from Telangana over a Facebook post. The first of these arrests was made on April 24, when AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam was picked up by police under section 152 of the BNS for statements in a political rally allegedly suggesting that the attack was a 'conspiracy' by the central government. Section 152, which pertains to 'acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India', has been invoked in many of the cases. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has also said that district administrators were given the power to invoke the National Security Act against 'repeat offenders'. Uploading regular updates on X after every few arrests, Sarma has referred to the accused as 'traitors defending Pakistan on Indian soil'. The 50 arrests have been made across 21 districts, and include one woman. Five of the arrests were made after Operation Sindoor had commenced. The highest number of arrests, 7, is from the Cachar district in the Bengali-majority Barak Valley. SP Numal Mahatta, said a social media monitoring cell in his office is tracking social media posts. 'While some of the posts have been detected by this cell, the Cyberdome in the Assam police headquarters is also alerting. There are also three cyber police outposts in Assam: one in Guwahati, one in Dibrugarh and one here in Cachar, which we are observing closely,' he said. Several social media users have also tagged Assam Police, flagging posts and comments on social media or highlighting screenshots. One such post was on Facebook by an individual named Ajibor Rahman. After police were tagged under a post by him on April 24, he was arrested by Barpeta police 10 days later, from Lakshmipur, Telangana. 'He had made statements which were derogatory and hurt religious sentiments. We identified him as a 25-30-year-old resident of Barpeta who was in Telangana for his livelihood. We sent a team to Telangana and arrested him. We have identified and arrested four such people so far and are on the lookout for more such posts,' said Barpeta SP Sushanta Biswa Sarma. Accused have been identified through other means as well. Two students in the Barak Valley — one studying Computer Science in Assam University Silchar, and another, aged 20, studying in SS College, Hailakandi — were arrested following complaints filed by the ABVP. One was over a Facebook post, and the other over a comment. 'The moment our members found out about these posts, they went to the police and filed formal complaints,' said Tushar Bhomik, Joint Organising Secretary, ABVP Assam. Others on the list of 50 include 25-year-old Jabir Hussain from Hailakandi, a reporter with a local Bengali newspaper, and Anil Bania, an activist with the Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti, the youth wing of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti. The sole woman on the list, Dimple Borah, is a former journalist who runs a crafts business in Guwahati.
