‘Dehumanising Our Language’: Gaurav Gogoi Slams BJP Over Bengali Row

A political firestorm erupted on Monday over an alleged Delhi Police letter that referred to Bengali as a "Bangladeshi language", drawing sharp condemnation from Opposition leaders across the country. Assam Congress chief and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi led the charge, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "dehumanising" Bengali-speaking Indians and fomenting linguistic divisiveness.

Taking to social media, Gogoi said the BJP’s “arrogance” had blinded it to the real damage being inflicted on India’s linguistic and cultural fabric. “The arrogance of the BJP blinds them to the dehumanisation of the Bengali people of West Bengal and Northeast India,” he wrote in a strongly worded post on X (formerly Twitter). “Today, the BJP IT cell insults the Bengali language spoken by lakhs of people in Tripura, Meghalaya and the Barak Valley of Assam.”

Gogoi went further, linking the controversy to the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). “First, the BJP asks the Bengali people to declare themselves as Bangladeshis through the CAA, and now the party insults their language as being foreign,” he said. “The BJP does not want a united India. They are only interested in reopening old scars.”

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 Responds: No Mention of ‘Bangla’ as ‘Bangladeshi’

The controversy stems from a letter issued by the Delhi Police, which allegedly referred to the language used by certain infiltrators as “Bangladeshi”. The reference triggered outrage from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who on Sunday accused Delhi Police of calling Bengali a foreign language—something she called “scandalous, anti-national and unconstitutional”.

Posting the letter on X, Banerjee wrote: “See now how Delhi police under the direct control of the 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 of our National Anthem—is now described as a Bangladeshi language!!”

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

Banerjee’s remarks, however, drew a sharp rebuttal from BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya, who accused her of “dangerously inflammatory” rhetoric. Denying that the Delhi Police letter ever referred to Bengali as a foreign language, Malviya alleged that Banerjee was stoking linguistic unrest.

“Mamata Banerjee's reaction to Delhi Police referring to the language used by infiltrators as 'Bangladeshi' is not just misplaced, it is dangerously inflammatory,” Malviya posted on X. “Nowhere in the Delhi Police letter is Bangla or Bengali described as a 'Bangladeshi' language. To claim otherwise and call upon Bengalis to rise against the Centre is deeply irresponsible. Mamata Banerjee should be held accountable—perhaps even under the National Security Act—for inciting linguistic conflict.”

Opposition Unites in Outrage

The controversy has struck a nerve across political lines, especially in linguistically sensitive regions. CPI(M) leader Md Salim joined the fray, criticising Delhi Police for its alleged ignorance of India’s constitutional recognition of languages.

“Will the ‘illiterate’ Delhi Police tell us what this ‘Bangladeshi language’ is?” Salim posted. “Why has the Delhi Police failed to make their officers aware of the 8th Schedule of our Constitution?”

Under the Constitution of India, Bengali is one of the 22 officially recognised languages listed in the Eighth Schedule. It is also one of the most widely spoken languages in the country, with tens of millions using it as their primary language across West Bengal, Tripura, parts of Assam, and elsewhere.

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