Bangla is spoken by over 25 crore people worldwide. It is one of the 22 constitutionally recognised languages of India. Both our National Anthem and National Song are written in Bengali.
By labelling our language as ‘Bangladeshi’, what BJP and Ministry of Home Affairs are systematically attempting is to delegitimise our language, erase our linguistic identity, and brand Bengalis as outsiders — as if our mother tongue were foreign.
— Smt. Mahua Moitra
