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Journalism of Courage
In focus
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday again accused the Centre of failing to protect Bengali-speaking people from harassment in different parts of the country, citing a recent incident where a techie and his son were allegedly denied hotel accommodation in Noida “simply because he spoke in Bengali.”
Speaking at the annual Kanyashree project programme, Banerjee said, “If someone is a foreigner, action must be taken against them if the Government of India deems it necessary. That is not in our hands. But such actions should not be done arbitrarily… If I respect your language, why will you not respect mine?”
Banerjee highlighted the fall in dropout rates for girls since 2011-12—from 4.75 percent to zero in primary, 16.32 percent to 2.9% in secondary, and 15.41 percent to 3.17 percent in higher secondary. “Is this not something to be proud of?” she said, urging girls to pursue academics, vocational training, sports, and other careers, citing examples of pilots, doctors, dancers and footballers.
On language, she said English must be learned well, even in Bengali-medium schools, but “never forget your mother tongue”. “Earlier, till Class 5, English was not taught, but we have introduced it. We should know all languages,” she said.
Banerjee invoked history from Vidyasagar abolishing child marriage to Raja Ram Mohan Roy ending sati to highlight West Bengal’s contribution to Independence, stressing that “without Bengal, India’s Independence would not have been possible.”
“We have also suffered from Partition. But people who left everything and came to India as refugees were received as Indian citizens,” she said.
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