Kolkata, 5 Aug (H.S.) – Former West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh has openly backed the Delhi Police in the ongoing row over the classification of Bengali and Bangladeshi languages. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, Ghosh said the controversy would make it clear how the language spoken in West Bengal differs from that of Bangladesh. He alleged that the Trinamool Congress was deliberately trying to mix the two.

Ghosh said that in foreign radio broadcasts, the Bangladeshi dialect is often referred to as “Bangla,” but the language spoken in West Bengal is different. “We don’t use words like khaatasi or jaitasi. There is nothing wrong in the Delhi Police calling it the Bangladeshi language. This will clarify which language belongs to Bengal and which to Bangladesh,” he stated.

The dispute began after the Delhi Police issued a notice seeking translators to convert documents from the “Bangladeshi language” into English. Police said the request followed the arrest of suspected Bangladeshi infiltrators from the Lodhi Colony area. Documents recovered from them were written in what police described as the Bangladeshi language, and experts were needed to translate them.

The Trinamool Congress strongly criticised the move, calling it an example of the Delhi Police’s “ignorance.” The party said describing Bengali as Bangladeshi was unacceptable and an insult to the people of West Bengal.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh