A routine police letter seeking help with language translation has snowballed into a full-blown political and cultural controversy—drawing in top names from both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC). The trigger? A Delhi Police reference to "Bangladeshi language" in an official communication, which many in Bengal saw as a direct insult to the Bangla language, its people, and its constitutional status in India.

While TMC chief Mamata Banerjee slammed the letter as “scandalous, insulting, anti-national, and unconstitutional,” BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya took it upon himself to lecture the West Bengal CM—herself a native speaker and Bangla poet—on dialects and phonology. But did his defence hold water?

Let’s unpack what happened—and what Malviya was really trying to say.

The Spark: "Bangladeshi Language" in Delhi Police Letter

The controversy began with a letter from Lodhi Colony Police Station in Delhi, which sought help from Banga Bhawan in translating documents written in the “Bangladeshi national language.” The context: an FIR involving eight individuals suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in India.

The Delhi Police, seemingly referring to Bangla, used the term “Bangladeshi language”—a phrase that triggered outrage in Bengal.

Mamata & TMC Hit Back: “This Is an Attack on Bengali Identity”

TMC leaders wasted no time in calling it a deliberate affront. Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, Mahua Moitra, and others accused the BJP and Delhi Police of trying to delegitimise Bangla, one of India’s 22 official languages and one of 11 classical languages.

Mamata, strategically using the opportunity, reminded the nation that both India’s National Anthem (Jana Gana Mana) and National Song (Vande Mataram) were composed in Bangla or Sanskritised Bangla.

“How dare you delegitimise our mother tongue?” posted Mahua Moitra on X.

Even noted Bengali filmmaker Srijit Mukherji weighed in, saying, “That’s not Bangladeshi. That’s Bangla—the language of your national anthem.”
Malviya’s “Language Lesson” to Mamata

Rather than addressing the core issue—that the Delhi Police wrongly labelled Bangla as "Bangladeshi"—Amit Malviya responded by schooling Mamata on dialects.

Calling her “poorly lettered”, he claimed:

Bangla spoken in West Bengal and Bangladesh differs in phonology.
The Delhi Police meant dialects like Sylheti, not Bangla as a whole.
There’s no single "Bengali" language; it's an umbrella term for multiple variants.
Referring to it as “Bangladeshi” was contextually correct given the foreign nationals involved.

He also cited literary history, referring to Ananda Math, Vande Mataram, and Jana Gana Mana—to argue that Bangla has always been complex and varied.

“Nuances like these are lost on Mamata Banerjee,” Malviya remarked.

The Real Issue: Script vs Speech

Malviya’s entire argument, however, missed the point.

The police letter didn’t refer to spoken dialects; it mentioned the inability to read the written script in recovered documents. And here lies the key fact: All Bangla dialects—Rarhi, Sylheti, Chittagonian, etc.—use the same Bengali script.

So, the Delhi Police’s request was essentially about script recognition, not dialect interpretation.

Language scholars, like Suniti Kumar Chatterji, have long established that Bangla script remains uniform, even if phonology varies across regions.

In short, Malviya’s phonology lesson was misplaced in a conversation that was fundamentally about literacy and respect for a constitutionally recognised Indian language.

Political Chess Ahead of Bengal Polls

TMC has strategically turned this slip into an electoral talking point ahead of West Bengal’s 2026 Assembly elections. With the BJP often targeting alleged illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Bengal, the TMC framed the letter as part of a larger ideological assault on Bengali identity.

By invoking emotional and linguistic pride, Mamata is galvanising a base that has long been sensitive to Delhi’s cultural missteps about the East.

“They’re not just attacking me. They’re attacking Bangla, Bengal, and everything we stand for,” Mamata said at a recent rally.

Final Take: India’s Language Tapestry Needs More Sensitivity

India is a nation where, as the saying goes, “kos kos par badle paani, chaar kos par baani.” Every few miles, both water and language change.

Dialects are part of our linguistic richness—not a point of division.

Malviya may have been technically correct about dialectal variation, but his attempt to undermine a native speaker's authority—especially one who happens to be a state chief minister and a published Bangla poet—was not just tactless, but also politically tone-deaf.

What's the Way Forward?

Delhi Police should issue a clarification and ensure cultural literacy in its communications.
Political leaders should avoid weaponising language for narrow goals.
India needs more linguistic sensitivity—not lectures—from its top leaders.

BJP's Malviya vs Mamata: What the Bangla Row Is Really About