Bhubaneswar/ Kolkata: The Odisha government has on Wednesday informed the Calcutta High Court that no Bengali-speaking individuals from West Bengal were arrested on suspicion of being illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators in the state. It clarified that some were only detained for identity verification under the Foreigners Act.
The High Court has directed Odisha to file an affidavit affirming this statement by August 28. Odisha’s Advocate General stressed that Bengalis are friends and neighbours, and no bias exists.
However, West Bengal's counsel and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee questioned why only Bengalis were detained and not people from other states.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused BJP-ruled states, including Odisha, of targeting Bengalis and announced weekend protests from July 27, calling it a modern “Bhasha Andolan.”
