Last Updated:
Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal polls, a Delhi Police document calling Bengali “Bangladeshi” sparked controversy. CM Banerjee called it an insult; BJP defended the police.
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya (L) called out West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s “shameful” attempt at using language for political gains. (Image: PTI/File)
As the politics over Bengali pride heats up in West Bengal ahead of the 2026 assembly polls, a document of the Delhi Police referring to Bengali as the ” Bangladeshi” language has added fuel to the fire.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has been attacking the BJP for allegedly labelling people from Bengal as Bangladeshis as the BJP-ruled states intensify their drive to identify infiltrators.
What’s The Issue?
Eight people who were suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals residing in India without any passport or visa have been arrested in Delhi by the police. They were booked under the ‘Foreigners’ Act’.
After the arrest, the Investigating Officer in the case wrote to the Officer-in-charge of Banga Bhawan, the official guest house of the state government in the national capital, requesting to provide an official translator/interpreter proficient in the “Bangladeshi” national language.
Who Said What?
Sharing the letter on August 3, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee alleged that Bengali is now described as a “Bangladeshi” language and said it is an insult to Bengali-speaking people of India.
The TMC supremo described the Centre as anti-Bengali and urged all to stage protests against such “anti-Constitutional language to insult and humiliate Bengali-speaking people of India”.
She also said that Bengali was the language in which both India’s national anthem, ‘Jana Gana Mana’ by Tagore and national song ‘Vande Mataram’ by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay were written.
See now how Delhi police under the direct control of Ministry of Home, Government of India is describing Bengali as ” Bangladeshi” language!Bengali, our mother tongue, the language of Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, the language in which our National Anthem and the… pic.twitter.com/2ACUyehSx8
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 3, 2025
“… the language in which crores of Indians speak and write, the language which is sanctified and recognised by the Constitution of India, is now described as a Bangladeshi language!!” Banerjee said.
“Scandalous, insulting, anti-national, unconstitutional!! This insults all Bengali-speaking people of India. They cannot use this kind of language, which degrades and debases us all. We urge immediate, strongest possible protests from all against the anti-Bengali Government of India, who are using such anti-Constitutional language to insult and humiliate the Bengali-speaking people of India,” she said.
TMC national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee, who also shared the letter on X, echoed his party chief’s sentiment and alleged that it was a calculated attempt by the BJP to “defame Bengal”.
Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin also commented on the issue, calling it a “direct insult” to the very language in which our National Anthem was written.
Such statements are not inadvertent errors or slips. They expose the dark mindset of a regime that consistently undermines diversity and weaponises identity, he added.
The Delhi Police, under the Union Home Ministry, has described Bengali as a “Bangladeshi language.” This is a direct insult to the very language in which our National Anthem was written.Such statements are not inadvertent errors or slips. They expose the dark mindset of a… https://t.co/YrF8qGgCOo
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) August 4, 2025
Gaurav Gogoi, Congress MP from Assam, alleged that the dehumanisation of the Bengali people of West Bengal and Northeast India.
The arrogance of the BJP blinds them to the dehumanisation of the Bengali people of West Bengal and Northeast India.Today the BJP IT cell insults the Bengali language spoken by lakhs of people in Tripura, Meghalaya and the Barak Valley of Assam.
First the BJP asks the Bengali… https://t.co/gMMjmLL4kX
— Gaurav Gogoi (@GauravGogoiAsm) August 4, 2025
BJP Defends Delhi Police
BJP’s West Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya justified the Delhi Police’s action and said there is a difference in the dialect of the Bengali language spoken and written in West Bengal with that of Bangladesh.
The BJP also alleged that the TMC was trying to defend illegal Bangladeshi migrants who, the party said, speak a heavily Urdu-influenced Bengali dialect.
Amit Malviya, West Bengal BJP co-incharge and IT cell chief, claimed nowhere in the Delhi Police letter is Bangla or Bengali described as a “Bangladeshi” language.
Calling Mamata Banerjee’s remark inflammatory, Malviya said she should be held accountable—perhaps even under the National Security Act—for inciting linguistic conflict.
Mamata Banerjee’s reaction to Delhi Police referring to the language used by infiltrators as ‘Bangladeshi’ is not just misplaced, it is dangerously inflammatory.Nowhere in the Delhi Police letter is Bangla or Bengali described as a ‘Bangladeshi’ language. To claim otherwise and… https://t.co/Ynb5o8cT6n
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 4, 2025
Highlighting the difference between Bengali and the language of Bangladesh, Malviya said the official language of Bangladesh is not only phonologically different, but also includes dialects like Sylheti that are nearly incomprehensible to Indian Bengalis.
Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter –twitter.com/saurabhkverma19
Saurabh Verma covers general, national and international day-to-day news for News18.com as a Senior Sub-editor. He keenly observes politics. You can follow him on Twitter –twitter.com/saurabhkverma19
view comments
Read More
