“Speaking Bengali Doesn’t Mean Bangladeshi,” says Mamata at Kolkata Rally

• Mamata Banerjee leads 3.8 km march from Red Road to Jorashanko Thakur Bari.
• Calls SIR exercise “hurried” and “politically motivated.”
• Accuses BJP of targeting Bengali-speaking citizens and opposition-ruled states.
• TMC brands voter list revision as “silent, invisible rigging.”

GG News Bureau
Kolkata, 4th Nov: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday led a massive 3.8 km footmarch in Kolkata, protesting against the Election Commission’s rollout of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list across several states. The rally began from Red Road and concluded at Jorashanko Thakur Bari, the ancestral home of Rabindranath Thakur.

Taking aim at the BJP during her address, Banerjee said, “Many unorganised sector workers are worried whether their names will be removed from the voter list.”

Responding to the BJP’s long-standing allegations that illegal migrants are being given identity in Bengal, Banerjee countered, “Speaking in Bengali does not mean Bangladeshi — just like speaking in Hindi or Punjabi does not mean Pakistani. Whoever is talking in Bangla is branded as Bangladeshi. These people have not fought the fight for freedom. Where was BJP at that time?”

Banerjee and her party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), have strongly opposed the SIR exercise, likening it to the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The TMC has described the revision as an attempt to disenfranchise opposition supporters and influence upcoming assembly elections. “This is silent, invisible rigging,” Banerjee said.

Calling the move “hurried and politically motivated,” the Chief Minister alleged that the voter list revision is being selectively carried out in opposition-ruled states like West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu — but not in BJP-ruled Assam. “This is clear discrimination aimed at helping the ruling party at the Centre. The Election Commission must answer why there is no SIR in BJP-ruled Assam, Tripura, and other northeastern states,” she demanded.

The rally comes a day after the BJP wrote to the Election Commission, alleging that the Bengal government had issued “backdated” and “forged” documents on a large scale. The party urged the poll body to scrutinize documents such as Birth Certificates, Permanent Residence Certificates, Forest Rights Certificates, Caste Certificates, Family Registers, and Land and House Allotment Certificates while revising the rolls.

Assembly elections are due next year in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, making the SIR exercise a politically charged issue across these states.