'Bengali or Bangladeshi'? Mamata Banerjee Snaps At BJP In Language War

A furious Mamata Banerjee snapped back at the Bharatiya Janata Party as the 'Bengali vs Bangladeshi' language war - triggered over the weekend by Delhi Police's letter referring to the translation of documents "written in Bangladeshi" - escalated sharply Monday afternoon.

In a sharp X post the Bengal Chief Minister's Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of " systematically promoting xenophobia and 'othering'... with Bengalis being deliberately targeted".

"Such dangerous narratives must be condemned and resisted at every level," the party said.

Hours earlier the BJP's Amit Malviya said Ms Banerjee had made "dangerously inflammatory" remarks and demanded she be "held accountable... under the National Security Act".

In a lengthy X post of his own Mr Malviya insisted the Delhi Police letter did not describe Bengali as a "Bangladeshi language", and said, "To claim otherwise, and call on Bengalis to rise against the centre, is deeply irresponsible. Mamata Banerjee should be held accountable..."

The BJP leader claimed the police had simply referred to Bengali as Bangladeshi "in the context of identifying infiltrators", and continued, "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."

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

"The official language of Bangladesh is not only phonologically different... but also includes dialects like Sylheti that are nearly incomprehensible to Indian Bengalis," he claimed.

"There is, in fact, no language called 'Bengali' that neatly covers all these variants... 'Bengali' denotes ethnicity... not linguistic uniformity. So when Delhi Police says 'Bangladeshi language', it is a shorthand for the linguistic markers used to profile illegal immigrants from Bangladesh."

The post triggered a furious pushback from the Trinamool.

“There is, in fact, no language called Bengali” — This shocking justification by @BJP4India-run institutions while profiling Bengali migrant workers reflects the regime's deep-rooted hostility towards the Bengali identity.

Denying the existence of a constitutionally recognised… pic.twitter.com/0m8cDecKnJ

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) August 4, 2025

"There is, in fact, no language called 'Bengali'... this shocking justification by BJP-run institutions (a swipe at Delhi Police, which reports to the Union Home Ministry) while profiling Bengali migrant workers reflects the regime's deep-rooted hostility towards the Bengali identity. Denying the existence of a constitutionally recognised language is nothing short of linguistic apartheid."

The entire controversy broke Sunday after Mamata Banerjee raged on X, calling the Delhi Police letter "anti-national, and unconstitutional!" and declaring, "This insults all Bengali-speaking people of India. They cannot use this kind of language which degrades and debases us all..."

READ | "Insulting": Mamata On Delhi Cops' Bengali "Bangladeshi Language" Row

The letter in question is linked to an investigation of a case under the Foreigners Act and was written to the officer-in-charge of Banga Bhawan, the official guest house of the West Bengal government in the national capital.