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An unnecessary row has erupted over a letter from New Delhi’s Lodhi Colony Police Station to Banga Bhawan requesting assistance in translating documents written in the “Bangladeshi language” for an FIR involving suspected illegal immigrants. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, condemned the reference to Bangla as “Bangladeshi language” as an insult to Bangla. As Mamata and the TMC siezed upon the opportunity provided by a policeman, who lacked understanding, BJP leader Amit Malviya began lecturing Mamata on Bangla dialects. The thought is outrageous as Mamata is a native speaker of the language, and a Bangla poet.
The source of the entire controversy is ignorance, and should have been possibly ignored. At best, an honest, corrective statement was all it demanded. However, the TMC is a political party and has the duty to turn issues into controversies to suit its political narratives. So, the TMC called it a “deliberate attempt to undermine Bengali identity”, reminding one and all that Bangla was a constitutionally recognised Indian language and a classical one at that.
The letter by the inspector at Lodhi Colony Police Station said that the Delhi Police needed an interpreter “proficient in Bangladeshi national language” to translate documents for a case involving eight persons “strongly suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in India”.
Since Sunday evening, the Trinamool leadership, including Mamata, escalated the issue, demanding an apology from Delhi Police.
In response, BJP leader Amit Malviya, labelling Mamata “poorly lettered”, attempted to school the self-taught poet on the phonology of Bangla across borders. He argued that Bangla spoken in Bangladesh and West Bengal are different.
Malviya focused on Bangla phonology and dialects, missing the point by miles that the Delhi Police’s goof-up had to do with the script used in the documents recovered from the suspected Bangladeshi illegals, which, in all likelihood, was Bangla — a script which is common to the dialects spoken on both sides of the border.
Bangla, with around 300 million speakers across the world, is among the Top 10 spoken languages globally.
Despite the existence of numerous dialects of Bangla, they use a uniform script across both India and Bangladesh.
It was an ignorant mistake by the police officer, who lacked nuance. However, the letter has now sparked a heated political debate ahead of West Bengal’s 2026 Assembly polls.
DELHI POLICE’ ‘BANGLADESHI LANGUAGE’ LETTER AND TMC OUTRAGE
The controversy began when the Delhi Police letter sought translation help for documents in the “Bangladeshi language”, prompting Mamata Banerjee to call it “scandalous, insulting, anti-national, and unconstitutional”.
Mamata Banerjee used the moment strategically to highlight Bangla’s integral place in India’s national anthem and national song.
Her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee went a step further, demanding an apology from Home Minister Amit Shah and calling the episode a “calculated attempt by the BJP to defame Bengal” and “equate Indian Bengalis with foreigners”.
Bengali artists like Srijit Mukherji echoed the sentiment.
“That’s not Bangladeshi language, that’s Bangla, the same language in which your national anthem was originally written,” the film director posted on X.
The TMC framed the letter as an attack on Bengali identity, and tried to leverage the issue politically to rally support in the run-up to the Assembly polls in West Bengal.
“After illegally hounding and detaining Bengali speakers in BJP ruled states today Delhi Police calls Bangla a ‘Bangladeshi language’. How dare you delegitimise our mother tongue, one of 22 official and one of 11 classical languages? Apologise, take corrective action ASAP,” posted TMC MP Mahua Moitra on X.
MALVIYA’S DEFENCE AND LANGUAGE LESSON FOR MAMATA
The BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya countered, accusing Mamata of “weaponising language and stoking sentiment” to defend “illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators”.
He stated, “It is beyond shameful that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is defending a lawful police action against illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators by weaponising language and stoking sentiment. Let us be absolutely clear: all illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators and Rohingyas will be dealt with strictly, as per the law of the land”.
“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,” Malviya argued further.
Malviya hinted at and claimed the police used “Bangladeshi language” to describe dialects like Sylheti, which he described as “nearly incomprehensible to Indian Bengalis,” asserting, “There is, in fact, no language called ‘Bengali’ that neatly covers all these variants. Bengali denotes ethnicity, not linguistic uniformity”.
He added literary context, saying, “Ananda Math was written in Bangla of that era Vande Mataram was composed separately, in Sanskrit Jana Gana Mana, originally composed in Sanskritised Bangla. Such nuances are clearly lost on the poorly lettered Mamata Banerjee.”
“Delhi Police is absolutely right in referring to the language as Bangladeshi in the context of identifying infiltrators,” Malviya posted on X.
SCRIPT OR SPEECH? REAL POINT OF CONFUSION IN BANGLA ROW
Malviya’s lecture to Mamata hinged on the phonological differences among the broad dialects used in India and Bangladesh.
However, scholars like Suniti Kumar Chatterji note that Bangla’s script is uniform across India and Bangladesh, with dialects like Sylheti using the same Bengali script.
In the letter in the centre of the row, the Delhi Police seemed to refer to the script, not the phonology, as it mentioned an inability to read what was written. It was not a failure to identify the language, which renders Amit Malviya’s defence an offence.
Bangla is spoken with significant dialectal variations across the undivided region of Bengal. They include western Bangla, Manbhumi, Sylheti, Rarhi, Chittagonian, Kamrupi and Rangpuri, but they all retain a uniform script, the Bengali abugida, derived from ancient Brahmic scripts.
One thing that Malviya has got right is that there exists phonological varieties in the umbrella term Bangla. However, his attempt to school a native speaker of the language on Bangla dialects seems outrageous.
Mamata, whose mother tongue is Bengali, can identify the different dialects better than most non-Bangla speakers. This isn’t true for just Bangla and Bengalis, but for Assamese, Punjabi and most other Indian languages.
INDIA, THE LAND OF LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS
Remember, in India, “Kos-kos me pani badle, chaar kos me bani”. The quality of water changes every kilometre, and the language every four kilometres.
The Punjabi spoken in the Malwa region of Punjab is distinct from the one in Manjha. The Assamese spoken in Upper Assam is distinct from Goalparia. A speaker of Punjabi and Assamese would be better positioned to tell the difference, and understand some of it.
The TMC’s response to the letter, while heavily politically charged, hinged on Bangla’s status as a shared international language, recognised in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
In a political climate often dominated by confrontation, the recent exchange between BJP’s Amit Malviya and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Bangla language has taken a more constructive turn. Rather than resorting to rhetoric, Malviya focused his remarks on three key cultural identity points, aiming to steer the conversation toward preserving and honoring Bengal’s rich linguistic heritage.
The first point raised by Malviya centered on the promotion of Bengali in administrative and educational frameworks. He emphasized that the language must not be sidelined in official platforms, especially in a state where cultural pride is deeply linked to linguistic expression. This aligns with the broader demand from many citizens who feel the need to strengthen regional languages in governance.
Secondly, Malviya highlighted the need to preserve Bengali literature and arts, advocating for more government support for local writers, poets, and artists. He noted that West Bengal has always been a beacon of intellectual and cultural excellence, and any political leadership must ensure this legacy is not diluted.
Lastly, he touched on inclusive identity, arguing that cultural pride must transcend politics. In doing so, he opened the door for a more nuanced, respectful debate—one that avoids polarizing language and encourages shared ownership of Bengal’s identity.
While political differences remain, the conversation marks a rare moment of ideological engagement rooted in respect for culture and language. As the Bangla language row continues, this dialogue may offer a more hopeful template—where political voices, even from opposing camps like the BJP and TMC, can come together to protect what truly matters: the soul of Bengal.
The Delhi Police’s error in labelling Bangla as “Bangladeshi” was a careless oversight, but Malviya’s attempt to defend the capital city’s law-enforcing body and educate Mamata on linguistic nuances missed the point, as the issue was centered on script, not dialect or the language. Now the TMC’s fierce attack reveals its obvious electoral posturing before the polls in Bengal, where its chief Mamata Banerjee has already launched a Bhasha Andolan from Rabindranath Tagore’s Bolpur.
– Ends