Migrant workers being tortured for speaking Bengali in BJP-ruled states, alleges Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that migrant labourers were being tortured for speaking Bengali in BJP-ruled states.
Banerjee, who headed for north Bengal to attend administrative programmes, accused the BJP of "planning to incite riots in the state", as "the party realised that it would not be able to win the 2026 assembly elections".
Referring to a protest in Murshidabad's Beldanga over attacks on migrant workers outside West Bengal, she said the anger of the minority community was “legitimate”.
The protest stemmed from repeated incidents of violence against migrant workers, she said.
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“Migrant labourers from Bengal are being tortured only in BJP-ruled states. We stand by their families,” she claimed.
Locals in Murshidabad blocked National Highway 12 and burnt tyres on Friday to protest against the alleged attacks on migrant workers from the district in other states, disrupting vehicular movement on the thoroughfare, police said.
The demonstrators alleged that migrants from the district have been facing atrocities in other states for speaking Bengali.
The Beldanga protest erupted after news spread about the death of a Murshidabad native who had migrated to Jharkhand for work, an officer said.
The chief minister also hit out at the Election Commission for introducing changes in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal, claiming that "around 100 people had lost their lives due to anxiety" related to the voter list revision exercise.
"Protect dignity, impartiality of your chair, only then people will respect you," Banerjee told the chief election commissioner, amid the SIR controversy.
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Patna-bound IndiGo flight makes emergency landing at Lucknow due to bad weather
Lucknow (PTI): Adverse weather forced an IndiGo Kolkata-Patna flight to make an emergency landing at Lucknow airport on Friday, airport sources said.
According to airport officials, weather conditions in Patna deteriorated suddenly on Friday afternoon, affecting flight operations.
IndiGo flight 6E 6917 from Kolkata, which was scheduled to land in Patna at 3.50 pm, could not land due to bad weather and kept circling in the air after failing to get clearance from air traffic control, they said.
The flight was later diverted to Lucknow and landed safely at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport at around 5.15 pm. There were 180 passengers and six crew members on board, officials said.
The aircraft was later allowed to depart for Patna after weather conditions improved.
