Guwahati (Assam) [India], July 20 (ANI): Assam Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker and BJP leader Numal Momin has lashed out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, calling her a 'half-Hindu' after she alleged that the BJP government in Assam was persecuting Bengali-speaking citizens for asserting their linguistic identity.

Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Momin said, 'Mamata Banerjee is giving a statement that is very much condemnable, and not a single Assamese person will support this statement. She wanted the coexistence of Bangladeshi infiltrators... That is not acceptable at any cost. She is a half-Hindu, which is why she is making such statements against Hindus. What did she want to prove...? She wanted to make Bengal, Assam, and the Northeast into an Islamic state.'

He further accused her of ignoring the condition of Hindus in West Bengal and urged her to focus on her own state instead of commenting on Assam.

'She never had sympathy for Hindus. In West Bengal, the Hindus are suffering a lot. Instead of commenting on Assam's internal matter, she should concentrate on West Bengal...,' he said.

Earlier, Mamata Banerjee had stated X, saying, 'The second most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second most spoken language of Assam. To threaten citizens who want to coexist peacefully, respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional. This divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits, and people of Assam will fight back.'

She also extended her support to those defending their cultural and linguistic identity, saying, 'I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity and their democratic rights.'

Her comments came after a protest march in Siliguri organised by the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC), affiliated with the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), against the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The protest was held over the alleged harassment and pushback of Bengali-speaking individuals from several BJP-ruled states.

According to the union, many Bengali-speaking migrants have been wrongly labelled as 'Bangladeshis' and targeted under the pretext of removing illegal immigrants.

INTTUC leader Nirjal Dey said, 'Bengalis have made the biggest sacrifices for the country. Today, this is a question of the existence of Bengalis. Today, Bengali-speaking individuals are being sent to detention camps. We are residents of Bengal and speak Bengali. We are proud of it. In Bengal, members of all sections of society live in harmony... But in Odisha, 400 Bengalis have been sent to detention camps. Their nationality is being questioned. Their only crime is that they speak Bengali; they are being branded as foreigners. This is the biggest issue... Arrest Rohingyas, but why will you arrest Bengali-speaking Indians? That is our question...'(ANI)