When Bangla becomes “Bangladeshi”: A language, a community, and a growing insult

An official letter from Delhi Police’s Lodhi Colony Station, now viral, refers to the need for a translator to interpret documents written in the “Bangladeshi language.” The case involves suspected illegal Bangladeshi nationals, but the language in question? Bangla. The mother tongue of crores of Indians, spoken across Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, parts of Jharkhand, Bihar, and even Delhi.

With a single mislabeling, Bangla, spoken by millions across West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand, Bihar, Delhi and other parts of the country, has been shunted to the status of a “foreign” language. And while Bangladesh may have made Bangla its national pride, India shares that cultural lineage. From Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Nazrul Islam, the language has helped shape the nation's intellectual and political foundations.

To refer to Bangla as “Bangladeshi” is more than a clerical error. It is a loaded statement with far-reaching consequences, especially in a country where identity and citizenship debates are already razor-sharp.

This mischaracterisation plays into an existing and dangerous narrative, one of insiders versus outsiders, of national identity versus cultural plurality. In Assam, for instance, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) have deepened suspicions around Bengali-speaking communities, particularly Muslims and Scheduled Caste Hindus.

Several tragic stories serve as grim reminders of this climate of fear. People like Shefali Rani Das, Akol Rani Namasudra, and Arjun Namasudra have been wrongly targeted and labelled as “Bangladeshi,” with one even ending his life under the weight of that stigma. A single word, repeated often and officially can trigger real-world consequences.

Today, the concern is over what’s written in documents. Tomorrow, it could be the right to speak, to identify, to exist.

What does it mean to be Bengali in India Today?

This moment calls for more than correction; it demands recognition. Bengali culture is deeply woven into India’s identity—from literature and music to its political and philosophical evolution. Bangla is not a foreign entity, it is an Indian language with global resonance and historical importance.

To erase or reclassify a language like Bangla is to rewrite cultural memory and marginalise entire communities. It is an erasure not just of vocabulary, but of identity.

Delhi Police must officially rectify the statement and clarify its position. But this episode also calls for greater linguistic sensitivity and political accountability. Government documents are not mere paperwork—they are instruments of power and identity. They reflect, reinforce, and often decide what is considered “official” or “other.”

Because if Bangla can be mistaken today, then tomorrow, it could be Tamil, Punjabi, Odia, or any other Indian language, and with it, the people who speak it.