West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of unleashing “linguistic terrorism” against Bengalis, PTI reported.

The Trinamool Congress chief said that the battle to protect the Bengali language and identity would continue until the BJP was ousted from both the state and the Centre. “If linguistic profiling does not stop, the resistance movement will reach Delhi,” she said.

Banerjee was speaking at a Martyrs’ Day rally held by the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata, where she called for support to defeat the BJP in the 2026 Assembly elections in the state and also remove it from power in Delhi.

Her remarks come amid Indian authorities pursuing a policy over the past month to “push” individuals claimed to be undocumented migrants into Bangladesh. Many of those forced out of the country claim that they are Indian citizens.

Reports of migrant workers from West Bengal living in BJP-ruled states, including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, being detained and deported under allegations that they were Bangladeshi citizens have also emerged.

At the rally on Monday, the chief minister claimed that Bengalis in BJP-ruled states were being harassed, detained and removed from voter rolls.

She also announced the launch of a movement from July 27 against what she described as “the BJP’s terrorism” against the Bengali language.

“Every weekend after July 27 till the elections, hold rallies to protest against the attack on Bengalis,” the chief minister was quoted as saying by The Telegraph. “This movement will continue till the Assembly election results are announced.”

She added: “Wherever Bengali-speaking people are detained, we will protest. If even one person is detained, we won’t stop protesting. I challenge them. How many jails, detention centres can they build?”

Banerjee further accused the BJP of targeting Bengalis through the National Register of Citizens process. She claimed that notices were being sent by the Assam government to residents in West Bengal.

The Trinamool Congress chief claimed that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was interfering in the affairs of her state. “He cannot handle his own state but is meddling in the affairs of West Bengal,” she was quoted as saying by PTI.

Banerjee also accused the Election Commission of acting under the BJP’s influence and “conspiring against West Bengal”. She alleged that it wanted to replicate in West Bengal what was being done in Bihar through the special intensive revision of the state’s electoral rolls.

The revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar was announced by the Election Commission on June 24. As part of the exercise, persons whose names were not on the 2003 voter list will need to submit proof of eligibility to vote.

India has forced more than 2,000 persons, alleged to be undocumented migrants, into Bangladesh since the country launched “Operation Sindoor”, a military operation against terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The legality of the “push back” policy has been debated in India and internationally. Experts have told Scroll that the policy violated India’s obligations under international law and customary international law.

In June, four men from West Bengal, who had been picked up by the Maharashtra Police and forced into Bangladesh, were brought back on June 15. The Murshidabad Police in West Bengal had presented proof of them being Indian citizens.

On July 16, the Calcutta High Court asked the Centre if there was truth to the claims that Bengali-speaking persons were being deported to Bangladesh.

Also read: ‘Hindus will suffer more’: BJP’s ‘Bangladeshi’ politics could alienate its refugee vote in Bengal