BJP state governments illegally detaining Bengali-speaking people: CM Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee accused BJP-governed states of imposing a " super-Emergency " by targeting and illegally detaining Bengali-speaking people , claiming her govt had received nearly 1,000 such complaints since June.

"I'm extremely sorry, hurt and heartbroken. People are being tortured just for speaking in their mother tongue," she said Wednesday at a rally in Kolkata after leading a Trinamool Congress march in steady rain.

"The people of Bengal have chosen me. The people of Bengal will politically detain BJP in elections if they are put in detention camps. There will be retaliation if there are attacks, I will respond. I warn you today," the chief minister said.

Bengali migrant workers have faced detention and deportation in a drive, particularly in Odisha and Maharashtra , against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

The workers claim they have valid documents such as Aadhaar and voter ID cards to prove their Indian citizenship . But authorities have allegedly demanded birth certificates and other documents, which many migrant workers lack.

Bengal is compiling the full number of such detentions, Banerjee said, adding that she would not tolerate Bengali-speakers being labelled as either Bangladeshi or Rohingya.