Congress accuses BJP of targeting Bengali Hindus, reneging on 2014 promises
APCC leaders condemned the government's silence on anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh & warned of a state-wide agitation if "injustices" continue;
Sudip Kumar Ghosh, advisor linguistic minorities department, APCC with representatives
Guwahati, April 6: The Department of Linguistic Minorities of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Rajiv Bhawan on Sunday, for its alleged betrayal of linguistic minorities, particularly Bengali-speaking Hindus in Assam.
The department accused the BJP of failing to uphold its 2014 election promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he had pledged to remove detention camps in Assam if voted to power.
However, speakers at the press conference claimed the BJP had not only reneged on this promise but had instead intensified the targeting and persecution of linguistic minorities, with a specific focus on Bengali Hindus.
The Congress also pointed out that such hostilities did not exist during the previous governments, but under the BJP regime, discrimination has grown—especially with rhetoric that equates Bengali identity with Bangladeshi origins.
Members of the department expressed deep concern over the absence of Bengali-speaking ministers in the Union Cabinet during the nearly 11-year tenure of the BJP government.
Sudip kumar Ghosh, advisor to the department, raised serious concerns over lack of access to land, jobs, and welfare schemes for linguistic minorities, accusing the government of deliberately sidelining them.
“We are denied our rights - land, jobs, government support. This seems like a systematic strategy to exclude us, to make us invisible,” he said, adding, “It’s time we raise our collective voices. If this continues, we will be forced to launch a district-wise agitation.”
The Congress also criticised the Centre’s silence on anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh, accusing the BJP of hypocrisy.
“Just recently, Muhammad Yunus made controversial remarks about the Northeast, yet the Indian government remained silent. They call themselves a Hindu-centric government but refuse to speak up about Hindu atrocities in Bangladesh. Their silence is shameful,” Ghosh said.
The Linguistic Minorities Department of the APCC has vowed to launch district-to-district protests if the perceived injustices and discriminatory policies against Bengali-speaking Hindus are not addressed.
