India, Dec. 27 -- West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday condemned what she called "the brutal oppression and persecution" of Bengali-speaking people in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states.

"We stand by those oppressed, terrified, and tortured migrant Bengali-speaking families, and we will provide all kinds of support to those families," Banerjee wrote on X.

On Wednesday, three migrant workers from West Bengal's Murshidabad were thrashed at Sambalpur in Odisha. Two of them managed to escape while one, Juyel Rana, was beaten to death over suspicion of being a Bangladeshi as he spoke in Bengali. Police said that it was not a targeted attack but linked to a fight over a beedi.

Banerjee called it extremely unfortunate...