Letter from Delhi Police refers to Bangla as ‘Bangladeshi language’, TMC demands apology

The letter dated July 24, written by Inspector Amit Dutt from Lodhi Colony Police Station to Officer-in-charge of Banga Bhawan, requested for a translator to decipher documents seized from suspected Bangladeshi nationals. It said that police needed an interpreter “proficient in Bangladeshi national language” to translate documents for a case involving eight persons “strongly suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in India”.

“Upon inquiry, copies of national ID cards, birth certificates, bank account details etc. were found from these suspected Bangladeshi nationals. The suspected Bangladeshi nationals were arrested and remanded in judicial custody on the order of the honorable court concerned,” the letter stated.

Inspector Dutt, the Investigating Officer, wrote in the letter that the identification documents contain texts written in “Bangladeshi” and are needed to be translated to Hindi and English. “Now, for the investigation to proceed further, it is requested that an official translator /interpreter proficient in Bangladeshi national language may kindly be provided for the aforesaid purpose,” the letter said.

“Emphasis is laid on the fact that the requisite report would be a pivotal piece of evidence for successful prosecution of suspected Bangladeshi nationals facing trial. Expeditious disposal of this letter is desired as the same is required to be submitted before the honorable court in a timed manner. Any bills raised against the translation service shall be payable by the department and a quotation for the same may be communicated before hand,” Dutt said in the letter.

Although senior police officers confirmed that the letter was sent to Banga Bhawan, an official response from Delhi Police is awaited.

Targeting the Centre and the BJP, the TMC, which posted the letter on its X handle, said in a post: “Is there no limit to @BJP4India’s hatred for Bengalis? After repeatedly harassing and detaining Bengali-speaking workers across BJP-ruled states, @AmitShah’s @DelhiPolice has now crossed all lines by officially branding our mother tongue, Bangla, as the ‘Bangladeshi language’. Make no mistake: this is not a clerical error. It is a calculated insult, an official attempt to strip a constitutionally recognised Indian language of its identity and portray millions of Bengali-speaking Indians as outsiders in their own country.”

“Bangla is spoken by over 25 crore people globally and recognised as one of India’s 22 official languages. Calling it ‘Bangladeshi’ is a deliberate affront, a vile attempt to delegitimise the language, erase its Indian roots, and brand Bengali speakers as outsiders,” it said, and demanded an “unconditional apology, immediate correction, and strict action against the officials responsible”.

In a post on X, Chief Minister Banerjee said: “See how Delhi Police, under the direct control of Ministry of Home, Government of India is describing Bengali as ‘Bangladeshi’ language! Bengali, our mother tongue, the language of Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, the language in which our National Anthem and the National Song (the latter by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) are written, the language in which crores of Indians speak and write, the language which is sanctified and recognised by the Constitution of India, is now described as a Bangladeshi language!! Scandalous, insulting, anti-national, unconstitutional!! This insults all Bangla-speaking people of India. They cannot use this kind of language which degrades and debases us all.”

“We urge immediate strongest possible protests from all against the anti-Bengali Government of India who are using such anti-Constitutional language to insult and humiliate the Bengali-speaking people of India.”

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee called it a “calculated attempt by the BJP to defame Bengal, undermine our cultural identity and equate West Bengal with Bangladesh for narrow political propaganda”. “This is a direct violation of Article 343 and the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution,” he said in a post on X. “There is no language called ‘Bangladeshi’. To call Bangla a foreign language is not just an insult — it’s an attack on our identity, culture and belonging.”

Hitting back at the TMC, the BJP said in a post on X: “Delhi Police apprehended 8 illegal Bangladeshi nationals and referred to their spoken tongue as the ‘Bangladeshi language’. Now TMC is outrageously claiming this is an ‘insult to our language’. But here’s the irony — their entire outrage is rooted in defending Bangladeshis. What does that have to do with India or Indian Bengalis?”

“Let’s get this straight — for TMC, a heavily Urdu-influenced dialect spoken by illegal migrants is now the real Bengali language? Is this what TMC politics has come to — defending foreign nationals while eroding Indian identity?”

State BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya said he saw no mistake on part of Delhi Police in the letter. “The language is absolutely correct. You bring a book from Bangladesh and read it and read any book from West Bengal. After reading the two books, you will understand which one is written by Subodh Sarkar and which one is written by some Shafiqul Islam from Bangladesh,” he said.

“So if someone speaks Bangla, he doesn’t become an Indian, it is not like his/her name will have to be included in the voter list if he speaks Bangla, such things will not work anymore. In a pre-planned manner with fake Aadhar cards these people have entered Banga Bhawan too.”