A war of words broke out between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Assamese counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday after the former alleged that Bengali speaking people are being threatened by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam.
In an 'X' (formerly known as Twitter) post, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said that Bengali is not just the second most spoken language in Assam, but also in the entire country. She said the saffron party has crossed all the limits, but "people of Assam will fight back".
"To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional," Banerjee posted.
"This divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits and people of Assam will fight back. I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity, and their democratic rights."
'Hindus verge on becoming minority...': Sarma slams Banerjee
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma slammed Banerjee over her accusations and said that his government is "fighting" for its own people. In a long 'X' post, the BJP leader said his government is "fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border", which is causing an "alarming demographic" change in the state.
In his post, Sarma also claimed that the Hindus are on "verge of becoming a minority" in their own land.
"This is not a political narrative—it’s a reality. Even the Supreme Court of India has termed such infiltration as external aggression. And yet, when we rise to defend our land, culture, and identity, you choose to politicize it," he said.
"We do not divide people by language or religion. Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Hindi—all languages and communities have coexisted here. But no civilisation can survive if it refuses to protect its borders and its cultural foundation."
Attacking the TMC supremo, the Assam CM said his state will continue to fight to save its "heritage, dignity and people" with courage and constitutional clarity.
"While we are acting decisively to preserve Assam’s identity, you, Didi, have compromised Bengal’s future—encouraging illegal encroachment by a particular community, appeasing one religious community for vote banks, and remaining silent as border infiltration eats away at national integrity—all just to stay in power," Sarma noted.
Earlier too, Sarma had made a similar attack on Banerjee and alleged that the West Bengal CM was only concerned Bengali-speaking Muslims. However, Banerjee had remained firm on her stance and had also taken out a protest march in Kolkata on Wednesday, accusing BJP of torturing Bengali-speaking people in states where it is in power.
