A decision by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre to recognise Bengali as a classical language has prompted leaders of the BJP camp to play the language card to polarise support in Bengal.

Such an attempt by the BJP has made chief minister Mamata Banerjee specifically mention that her consistent efforts have made the central government take the decision.

On Friday, a day after the Bengali language earned recognition, state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar wrote a letter to Mamata, requesting her to confer the status of “Bhasha Sahid” (martyrs for language) to Tapash Barman and Rajesh Sarkar, two youths from North Dinajpur who lost their lives in suspected police firing six years ago.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the case.

“The chief minister is trying to take the credit on this issue. I have sent a letter to her, requesting her to recognise the two slain youths as language martyrs.

“Also, a martyrs’ column should be installed in their native village for their contribution to the Bengali language. We want to see whether the chief minister is sympathetic to the language,” said Majumdar in his hometown Balurghat on Friday.

On September 20, 2018, protests rocked Daribhit High School, a state-aided higher secondary school in Daribhit village in the Islampur sub-division of North Dinajpur.

The students, along with villagers and former students, including Tapash and Rajesh, demonstrated against the recruitment of an Urdu teacher in the school while claiming that they instead needed a Bengali teacher.

The demonstration turned violent and police had to act. During police action, the two youths were hit by bullets which their families alleged were shot by police. They were rushed to the hospital but eventually succumbed to their injuries.

The graves of Tapash Barman and Rajesh Sarkar in Daribhit, North Dinajpur

“The BJP was quick to pick up the issue and it helped the party to polarise votes in North Dinajpur, a district with around 45 per cent minority population, in two back-to-back Parliament elections (in 2019 and 2024) and could win the Raiganj Lok Sabha seat.

“This time, the party is again trying to use the same language issue to polarise support,” said a political veteran based in the district.

Majumdar, who is also the Union minister of state for education, termed the recognition as a “gift” ahead of the Durga Puja.

“TMC was an ally in the UPA government that was in power till 2014 and Mamata Banerjee was a central minister. During this period, similar recognition was given to some other languages. We want to know whether she had raised the demand to grant the same status to Bengali during that period,” he said.

As the BJP made desperate attempts to take the credit, the chief minister mentioned that her efforts had led to the recognition.

“Here goes a copy of my letter (dated 11 January 2024) to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India where I had articulated our demand for central government’s recognition of Bengali as a classical language. Our facts-based cogent arguments have been finally accepted by GOI. The letter is placed below for public information: the recognition comes after much deprivation/denial,” Mamata posted on X.

Later in the day, as the chief minister reached the premises of Ekdalia Evergreen, a popular Durga Puja in south Calcutta, to inaugurate the puja, she referred to it again.

Bengali, she said, is the fifth most-spoken language in the world and the second such language in Asia.

“Yesterday, Bengali was recognised as a classical language. I have been fighting for 10 years to get this status. Earlier, no one has raised the demand. I had sent detailed research papers to the Centre to prove our point and they could not deny the cogency of those documents,” said Mamata.