“We will not remain silent while people from Bengal are treated like trespassers in their own country. Bengal stands in solidarity with every oppressed voice,” Ms. Banerjee said. File.
Expressing her concern on the plight of migrant workers from West Bengal working in BJP-ruled states, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday (July 10, 2025) said that power and water supply had been disconnected in Jai Hind Colony in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, a settlement predominantly inhabited by Bengalis.
“We will not remain silent while people from Bengal are treated like trespassers in their own country. Bengal stands in solidarity with every oppressed voice. We will raise this issue in every forum,” Ms. Banerjee wrote on social media.
Ms. Banerjee said that several disturbing reports have emerged from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and New Delhi, where Bengali-speaking individuals were being targeted. Now, this pattern of hostility had reached even the national capital, she said.
The remarks by the Chief Minister come a day after her party said that hundreds of migrant workers from the State were being detained by the Odisha Police on suspicion of being illegal immigrants. The Trinamool Congress, in a social media post on Wednesday (July 9, 2025), had stated that even after providing valid citizenship documents, workers from West Bengal were being labelled “foreigners” and “illegal migrants”.
The Chief Minister said that electricity meters were confiscated and power was abruptly cut in the colony in New Delhi.
“A forced eviction is currently under way despite the matter being sub judice following another transgression last December by the Delhi Police. How can we claim to be a democratic republic if the basic rights to shelter, water, electricity are being trampled upon?” Ms. Banerjee asked.
She reiterated that speaking Bengali does not make one a Bangladeshi. “There are over 1.5 crore migrant workers in Bengal [from other States] who live with dignity but the same cannot be said for BJP-ruled States, where Bengalis are being treated as infiltrators in their own country,” Ms. Banerjee said in the post on X.
The Trinamool Congress, in a social media post, said that five labourers from Hariharpara, who went to Odisha seeking honest work, had been thrown behind bars on the charge of being immigrants and they had been in custody for 15 days.
“This is not an isolated incident. From Gujarat to Maharashtra to Madhya Pradesh, @BJP4India-ruled States are running coordinated crackdowns on Bengali-speaking workers. Valid documents are ignored, and citizenship is questioned simply because of their identity,” Trinamool Congress said in a social media post.
Published – July 11, 2025 02:00 am IST
