BJP first questioned Bengali identity with CAA, now insulting their language as 'foreign': Gaurav Gogoi

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Monday lashed out at the BJP, accusing the party of dehumanising Bengali-speaking people across West Bengal and the Northeast, including Tripura, Meghalaya, and Assam’s Barak Valley. 

In a strongly worded post on X, Gogoi said, “The arrogance of the BJP blinds them to the dehumanisation of the Bengali people of West Bengal and Northeast India.”

Gogoi alleged that the BJP had first pushed Bengalis to prove their identity through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and is now “insulting their language as being foreign.” He wrote, “The BJP do not want a united India. They are only interested in reopening old scars.”

The remarks come amid a political firestorm triggered by comments from Amit Malviya, the BJP’s IT Cell Co-incharge for West Bengal. 

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Malviya had defended the Delhi Police’s use of the term “Bangladeshi language” in a report about infiltrators, saying it referred to “a set of dialects, syntax, and speech patterns” used to identify illegal immigrants—not an attack on Bengali as spoken in India.

Malviya also targeted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of inciting linguistic conflict by misrepresenting the Delhi Police’s wording. He said Banerjee’s reaction was “dangerously inflammatory” and suggested she be held accountable under the National Security Act for her remarks.

Gogoi, however, interpreted the BJP’s defence as a broader cultural affront. He reminded the public that millions of Indian citizens speak Bengali and condemned the party for undermining their identity. The controversy adds another layer to ongoing political tensions over language, identity, and citizenship in Eastern India.