Is There a Political Motive Behind Calling Bangla Speakers ‘Infiltrators’? TMC’s Sagarika Ghose Raises Plight of Bengal Migrants in Parliament

**New Delhi, December 11, 2025** – In a fiery address to the Rajya Sabha on December 8, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sagarika Ghose accused the central government of fostering a "dirty politics of division" by targeting Bengali-speaking migrants from West Bengal as infiltrators, questioning whether there was a deeper political agenda behind the harassment. Ghose's intervention, delivered partly in Bengali, spotlighted the precarious living conditions and linguistic discrimination faced by millions of migrant laborers in urban India, drawing sharp attention to what she described as an assault on India's linguistic diversity.

Ghose, a vocal critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, began her remarks by emphasizing the contributions of Bengali migrants to the nation's economy. "These poor, defenseless workers build our smart cities, laboring over construction sites and infrastructure projects, yet they are evicted from slums and labeled as Bangladeshis simply because they speak Bangla," she said, according to reports from the session. She highlighted the constant threat of demolition drives in urban slums, where families live in subhuman conditions without access to basic amenities like electricity and water. "Is there a political motive behind calling Bangla speakers ‘infiltrators’? These are Indian citizens earning an honest livelihood, but they are harassed for their mother tongue," Ghose added, underscoring the irony of a government that promotes cultural pride while allegedly unleashing "linguistic terror."

In a poignant moment, Ghose switched to Bengali mid-speech, declaring, "The Central government calls Bengali the Bangladeshi language. Now that I am speaking in Bangla, perhaps they will call me Bangladeshi and try to throw me out." Her words echoed earlier TMC protests, including a July 2025 visit by Ghose and fellow MPs to Delhi's Jai Hind Camp in Vasant Kunj, where Bengali migrants from districts like Cooch Behar endured power cuts and evictions on court orders, with residents alleging targeted discrimination. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had then decried the treatment, stating, "Speaking Bengali does not make one a Bangladeshi. They are as much citizens of India as anyone else."

Responding to Ghose's queries on the migrant housing crisis, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar placed the onus on state governments, asserting that providing shelter to migrants falls under their purview. He cited progress under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) scheme, which aims to deliver affordable housing to urban poor, but offered no specific assurances for linguistically targeted communities. Khattar emphasized that while the Centre supports urban development, implementation remains a state responsibility, a stance that drew TMC ire for sidestepping the discrimination angle.

The Rajya Sabha debate comes amid escalating tensions over the issue, with a related uproar unfolding in the Lok Sabha just two days earlier on December 6. TMC MP Satabdi Roy raised the alarm over alleged deportations of Bengali-speaking Indians to Bangladesh, citing cases from West Bengal's border districts like Malda, Murshidabad, South 24 Parganas, and Birbhum. Speaking in Bengali during Zero Hour, Roy recounted the ordeal of Sunali Khatun, a pregnant woman from Birbhum whose family—despite possessing valid documents—was "pushed back" at the border after being labeled infiltrators while working as laborers in other states. "This is not an isolated incident," Roy asserted, pointing to a similar deportation from Odisha and decrying the use of language as a criterion for expulsion.

Roy's speech triggered chaos in the House. As her microphone was switched off upon time expiry, she and fellow TMC MP Mahua Moitra stormed to a BJP MP's seat to continue speaking, leading to protests in the well of the House. Roy concluded with a provocative query: "If Bengali-speakers can be sent to Bangladesh, why aren't Hindi or Urdu speakers deported to Pakistan?" This sparked a fresh uproar, with BJP MP Sambit Patra demanding an apology and retorting, "Bengalis are our brothers, but Bangladeshis and Rohingya have no place in Odisha." The exchange underscored the raw political fault lines, with TMC accusing the BJP of weaponizing infiltration narratives ahead of key state elections.

The controversy traces back to a surge in reports of Bengali migrants facing scrutiny in BJP-ruled states, including detentions and evictions justified under anti-infiltration drives. In November 2025, Ghose had warned that such tactics would fail in West Bengal, where "linguistic pride" rooted in figures like Rabindranath Tagore and Subhas Chandra Bose remains unassailable. TMC leaders, including Banerjee, have framed it as a deliberate ploy to polarize voters, especially with visuals of "returns" at the Bengal-Bangladesh border fueling BJP's infiltration rhetoric.

As Parliament winds down its winter session, the TMC's interventions signal a broader offensive against what it calls the Centre's neglect of eastern India's migrants. With over 1.5 crore Bengali workers contributing to national growth, Ghose urged immediate policy reforms to protect vulnerable communities. "India's strength lies in its diversity—not in dividing us by language," she concluded, leaving the House—and the nation—to grapple with the question of motive behind the mounting accusations.