Why Kolkata Football Match Banner Is Viral Amid 'Bangladeshi Language' Row

A football match in Kolkata witnessed a symbolic protest against a Delhi Police officer's letter seeking a translator for the "Bangladeshi language" that has sparked a massive row amid the Trinamool Congress's allegations of atrocities against Bengali migrants.

During a Durand Cup match between East Bengal Football Club and Namdhari Football Club at Salt Lake stadium yesterday, East Bengal fans put up a massive banner that read, "Bharat swadhin korte sedin porechilam fanshi, mayer bhasha bolchi bole ajke Bangladeshi." The lines loosely translate to: "We embraced the noose for India's freedom, and today we are called Bangladeshi for speaking our mother tongue."

The banner, which has gone viral on social media, comes against the backdrop of language politics gaining momentum in West Bengal. Amid the Trinamool's allegations that Bengali migrants are being targeted in several states, including the national capital, a Delhi Police letter added fuel to the fire. The letter from a Delhi Police inspector to a top Banga Bhawan official sought a translator for "Bangladeshi language". There is no "Bangladeshi" language and people on both sides of the border speak Bengali. The letter provided ammunition to the Trinamool Congress to launch a fresh attack on the Centre, which controls the Delhi Police.

Sharing the letter on X, Ms Banerjee described it as "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," she said. "See now how Delhi police under the direct control of Ministry of Home, Government of India is describing Bengali as 'Bangladeshi' language!"

Hitting back, senior BJP leader said the Trinamool chief's remarks are not just misplaced, but "dangerously inflammatory". "Nowhere in the Delhi Police letter is Bangla or Bengali described as a 'Bangladeshi' language... Delhi Police is absolutely right in referring to the language as Bangladeshi in the context of identifying infiltrators. The term is being used to describe a set of dialects, syntax, and speech patterns that are distinctly different from the Bangla spoken in India. The official language of Bangladesh is not only phonologically different, but also includes dialects like Sylheti that are nearly incomprehensible to Indian Bengalis," he said.

A large section of Bengali intellectuals has voiced protest against the Delhi Police letter. Trinamool wants to keep the pot boiling as it preps for the state polls next year and faces a 15-year anti-incumbency and the Opposition's attacks over Bengal's law and order situation. The ruling party in Bengal is also targeting the Centre over the proposed Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls in the state.

Political messaging on emotive issues in Kolkata's football matches is not new. Earlier, in January 2020, East Bengal fans had put up a similar banner to protest against the exercise for a National Register of Citizens (NRC). "Rokto diye kena maati, kaagoj diye noi (Land bought with blood, not documents)," it read.

For East Bengal, a century-old football club, these political issues are also intertwined with personal. Most supporters trace their roots to present-day Bangladesh and the football club's history was carved by Partition and the displacement of refugees.

A football match in Kolkata last year had also turned into a protest against a doctor's rape-murder at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital when fans of arch-rivals East Bengal and Mohunbagan put up a rare show of camaraderie to demand justice for the doctor.