Mamata AITC alleges 'Hindi imposition', distortion of Bengali over KMC poster campaign

Kolkata: The Mamata All India Trinamool Congress on Sunday accused West Bengal's BJP government of imposing Hindi and distorting Bengali, citing a poster campaign by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

The poster on a cleanliness drive in the city from October 10 to 21 during Durga Puja festivities had words written: "Mayer korbo Swacchata Se Swagat" (Will welcome Mother Goddess with cleanliness), playing on both Bengali and Hindi phrases.

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The poster, which was shared by the KMC on social media, further said the drive was being launched to welcome Goddess Durga to a clean city. It also called upon people of the metropolis to be more responsible to ensure cleanliness.

However, the mixing of Hindi and Bengali words in a sentence irked the former ruling party of the state.

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"No amount of proofreading goes into anything posted by @kmc_kolkata, apparently. As long as OUR BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE IS BEING BUTCHERED, it gets a go-ahead from @BJP4Bengal government! Stop forcing Hindi down Bengal's throat to appease your masters in Delhi. STOP HINDI IMPOSITION. NOW," the Mamata AITC said in a social media post.

Sharing the poster, the faction's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said, "I am starting to wonder whether I learnt Bangla wrong as a child or whether the language has changed without anyone informing me!"

Party MLA and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also attacked the BJP government and demanded that necessary corrections be made.

"What is this? Is this Bengali? Are you joking? How much more bad culture will the BJP impose on West Bengal? How much more will it distort Bengali? Delete all this immediately. Change it. Write proper Bengali. The current state of the corporation is just as bad as this piece of writing," Ghosh, the Beleghata MLA, said.

There was no immediate response from the KMC or the state government to the allegations.

The KMC is currently being run an administrator and the state's largest civic body is likely to go to polls later this year.