Kolkata, Dec. 26 -- Amid repeated incidents of attacks on Bengali-speaking migrant labourers in BJP-ruled states, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee shared a video clip of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee speaking on "Raj Dharma" and alleged that India's social climate is being deliberately poisoned.

In a post on X, Banerjee claimed that right-wing forces were openly attacking Dalits, Scheduled Tribes and minorities. "India's climate is being deliberately poisoned. Right-wing forces, emboldened by power, are openly attacking Dalits, STs and minorities - through fear, lynching, threats and hate, all under the garb of religion," he wrote.

He further alleged that when those in power reward perpetrators of violence, "impunity becomes policy". "This is not governance; this is moral collapse. These attacks are unconstitutional, illegal and tear apart the very foundation of India - our unity in diversity. Silence today is complicity. History will not forgive this," Banerjee added.

The Trinamool Congress also criticised what it described as the BJP's "desperate attempt" to equate West Bengal with Bangladesh, calling it reckless and misleading. Banerjee reiterated his protest against alleged attacks on minorities, Dalits and Scheduled Tribes.

The comments come in the wake of a recent incident in Odisha, where a migrant labourer from West Bengal died and two others were injured. Three migrant workers - Akir Sk, Palash Sk and Juyel Rana - from Suti Block I in Murshidabad district had gone to Sambalpur on December 20. They were allegedly attacked at their workplace after rumours were spread that they were Bangladeshis. Juyel Rana (30) later succumbed to his injuries.

Alleging that Bengali-speaking migrant workers were being targeted in some states on the pretext that they were Bangladeshi nationals, Trinamool Congress asked how many more innocent lives the BJP wanted.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Arjun Singh, speaking at a party meeting in Naihati last Wednesday evening, urged party supporters to beat up those raising the "Joy Bangla" slogan, claiming that the slogan was shouted in Bangladesh where a Hindu was killed.

In another post on X, Trinamool Congress said: "Bengal BJP's desperate, venomous smear equating Bengal with Bangladesh is as reckless as it is misleading. Where was your 'nationalist' outrage when your own @SuvenduWB openly praised the Yunus government in Bangladesh? It is your party that branded Bengali a 'Bangladeshi language'."

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.