Amid a row over the alleged harassment and detention of Bengali migrant workers across India, four students of the University of Calcutta were allegedly beaten up by Hindi-speaking traders in Sealdah station area in north Kolkata for speaking in Bengali.
The Bengali-speaking students were allegedly branded as Bangladeshis by a group of traders, who were speaking Hindi.
According to the police, the shocking incident took place on Wednesday night after an altercation broke out between the students and traders over the price of a mobile phone cover.
A complaint has been registered by the Bengali students at Muchipara Police Station. However, no one has been arrested in connection with the incident so far.
The police took the injured students to Calcutta Medical College and Hospital for treatment.
The incident comes in the backdrop of alleged harassment and attacks on Bengali migrant workers in BJP-ruled states in North India.
Now the attack on Bengali students for speaking Bengali in West Bengal has also taken everyone by surprise.
According to news agency IANS, a student had gone to a shop under the Sealdah Bridge, where he got into a minor argument with one of the sellers over the price of a mobile cover.
The student alleged that the seller abused him in Hindi for speaking in Bengali. He returned to the hostel and came back to shop with three friends.
Soon, an altercation broke out between them, and all the students were assaulted by the traders, who also branded them as Bangladeshis.
“They said in Hindi that we are ‘Bangladeshi’. When we protested, they beat me. They took away my mobile phone. One man even attacked us with knives,” the agency quoted one of the students as saying.
A senior police officer of Kolkata Police said, “We have received a complaint in this regard. We are investigating the matter. No one has been arrested so far.”