Latest news with #BhasaAndolan
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Business Standard
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Not only Bengalis, Every Indian has right to travel freely: Amartya Sen
Wading into the political slugfest over the alleged harassment of Bengali migrant workers in other parts of the country, noted economist Amartya Sen said every citizen of India has the freedom to go wherever they want, and any effort to curb that must be objected to. Speaking to reporters at his ancestral home in Santiniketan, Sen said it doesn't matter whether a person is a Bengali, Punjabi or a Marwari, the freedom to go wherever he wants and speak whichever language he wants is his constitutional right. "An Indian citizen has the right of movement in the entire country. There is no mention of territorial rights anywhere in our Constitution," he said. "Every citizen of India has the right to be happy. We have to respect everyone...," he said on Thursday, responding to a question from reporters on the issue that has rocked the state. Sen said if Bengalis are being tortured and neglected, it must be objected to. "It is not a question of Bengal alone, but the whole country," he added. "The language that was integrated with 'Charyapad' (Bangla), its value must be acknowledged. Various poems have been written in that language. The messages of Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam have been laid out very clearly in their works. These values must be acknowledged," he said. The TMC has been raising its voice over the last one month, alleging that Bengali-speaking people, especially poor Muslim migrant workers, are being harassed in BJP-ruled states and being branded illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has led a mega rally in Kolkata over the issue last month, and also started 'Bhasa Andolan', sharpening her attack on the BJP. The BJP, on the other hand, has dismissed the allegations, claiming that the TMC did not think about the welfare of migrant workers over the last 14 years, and was now raising the issue with an eye on next year's assembly elections in the state.
Economic Times
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
Not only Bengalis, every citizen has right to go anywhere in India, says economist Amartya Sen
Wading into the political slugfest over the alleged harassment of Bengali migrant workers in other parts of the country, noted economist Amartya Sen said every citizen of India has the freedom to go wherever they want, and any effort to curb that must be objected to. Speaking to reporters at his ancestral home in Santiniketan, Sen said it doesn't matter whether a person is a Bengali, Punjabi or a Marwari, the freedom to go wherever he wants and speak whichever language he wants is his constitutional right. "An Indian citizen has the right of movement in the entire country. There is no mention of territorial rights anywhere in our Constitution," he said."Every citizen of India has the right to be happy. We have to respect everyone...," he said on Thursday, responding to a question from reporters on the issue that has rocked the state. Sen said if Bengalis are being tortured and neglected, it must be objected to. "It is not a question of Bengal alone, but the whole country," he added."The language that was integrated with 'Charyapad' (Bangla), its value must be acknowledged. Various poems have been written in that language. The messages of Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam have been laid out very clearly in their works. These values must be acknowledged," he TMC has been raising its voice over the last one month, alleging that Bengali-speaking people, especially poor Muslim migrant workers, are being harassed in BJP-ruled states and being branded illegal Bangladeshi Minister Mamata Banerjee has led a mega rally in Kolkata over the issue last month, and also started 'Bhasa Andolan', sharpening her attack on the BJP. The BJP, on the other hand, has dismissed the allegations, claiming that the TMC did not think about the welfare of migrant workers over the last 14 years, and was now raising the issue with an eye on next year's assembly elections in the state.
Hindustan Times
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
BJP lodges police complaint in Delhi against Mamata Banerjee over ‘fake video'
Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's allegation that the Delhi police physically tortured a toddler and his mother on July 26 during the ongoing drive against migrant workers from her state on the suspicion that they were illegal Bangladeshi immigrants triggered a row on Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party lodging a police complaint against her in the national capital. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee addresses the gathering at a language movement rally, in Birbhum, on Monday. (PTI) In the complaint letter, a copy of which was seen by HT, Banerjee was charged with 'dissemination of fake and communally provocative content on social media intended to defame the Delhi Police and disturb public order.' It was filed on Tuesday afternoon at the cyber crime branch at the Delhi police headquarters by Soumendu Adhikari, the BJP Lok Sabha member from Contai and brother of the leader of the Opposition in Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari. The complaint letter said Banerjee should be booked for several offences including 'wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot' and 'cyber terrorism.' On July 27, Banerjee posted a video of a toddler and his mother on social media and alleged that Delhi police physically tortured them during the drive. 'Atrocious!! Terrible!! See how Delhi police brutally beat up a kid and his mother, members of a migrant family from Malda's Chanchal. See how even a child is not spared from the cruelty of violence in the regime of linguistic terror unleashed by BJP in the country against the Bengalis! Where are they taking our country now?' Banerjee wrote on X. She posted the video hours after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) launched its year-long 'Bhasa Andolan' (language movement) alleging that police in BJP-ruled states were specifically targeting migrant workers who speak Bengali. Banerjee referred to the video again on Monday while leading a protest in Birbhum district. The video was apparently recorded by a man who pointed at some scars in the child's left ear and forehead. 'Police tortured my wife and one-and-a-half year-old son,' the man could be heard saying in the video. The Delhi police countered the allegation on Monday, calling the charges 'fabricated' and 'politically motivated.' Addressing the media, deputy commissioner of police (East) Abhishek Dhania said: 'Upon inquiry, we identified the woman as Sanjanu Parveen. During questioning, she alleged that on the night of July 26, four men in plain clothes posing as police personnel took her and her child to a secluded spot and demanded ₹25,000, which she claimed to have paid.' The DCP said police investigation, analysis of footage from local security cameras and local intelligence revealed inconsistencies in the woman's statements. 'During sustained questioning, the woman admitted that her relative, a political worker from Malda district in West Bengal, had asked her to make the video. The video was then circulated locally in Bengal and later surfaced on social media,' Dhania said. 'This appears to be a deliberate attempt to malign the image of Delhi Police through a politically motivated narrative. The matter is still under investigation,' he added. On Tuesday, while Suvendu Adhikari addressed the media in Kolkata and showed a security camera footage recovered by the Delhi police, the chief minister stuck to her allegation while addressing an administrative meeting in Birbhum. 'Check the records. The woman was held overnight by Delhi police and threatened. She is still in their custody. We want all of them to return safely. After that it will be clear who is lying and who is telling the truth, ' she said. Bengal BJP unit president Samik Bhattacharya targeted the chief minister. 'We all know she is a creative person, a painter, a poet and a writer. It is surprising that she composed such a weak script. The lies have been exposed,' said Bhattacharya.
