Bengalis facing immense oppression, must act unitedly: Mamata Banerjee at Shaheed Diwas rally

Mamata Banerjee

Evoking the sensitive social issue of “Bengali ashmita" (pride), West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee took on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue of and accused the party of high-handedness by ordering the detention of Bengali-speaking migrants in various Indian states.

Addressing a mega rally to mark Shaheed Diwas on Monday, Banerjee said that the ongoing drive against the Bengalis is a massive conspiracy against Bengali language. "They are now dictating what we eat – ‘who will eat egg, who will eat chicken meat’ – intruding upon our most basic freedoms. Bengal will not tolerate this!” Banerjee remarked.

Martyrs’ Day is TMC’s annual mega rally commemorating the 1993 incident when 13 workers were killed in police firing during Banerjee’s movement for EPIC cards. Since then, the TMC has observed this day to remember the martyrs, and Banerjee traditionally uses this platform to announce the party’s political agenda for the year. While the BJP has planned a North Bengal Secretariat gherao, its state president will be in Delhi to attend the Parliament session. The BJP has said on record that this will be Banerjee’s last Martyrs’ Day rally in power. Insiders say that this year, Banerjee is expected to outline the roadmap for the 2026 elections while addressing thousands of party workers from the stage.

For the past month, the TMC has been aggressively raising the issue of ‘Bengali Asmita’ (Bengali pride). Banerjee has accused the BJP of being anti-Bengali, often citing incidents from Odisha. On July 16, she led a protest march, alleging that the central government had issued a secret notification to expel Bengali people from other states. She has vowed to challenge this notification in court.

The TMC has also highlighted stories from Assam, where voters are allegedly being summoned for NRC verification and losing their citizenship rights. Insiders believe Banerjee will use the July 21 stage to direct her workers to launch a bigger movement, projecting the BJP as a party that does not respect Bengal’s culture and traditions.

The message is clear: people should not place their faith in the BJP in the upcoming elections. It is also expected that Banerjee will use this stage to directly respond to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remarks.