Goghat: A migrant worker from Goghat in Hooghly district of West Bengal, who had been working in Odisha’s Cuttack, has returned home and alleged that he was beaten up, harassed and robbed of Rs 50,000 for speaking Bengali.
As per reports, 27-year-old Raja Ali from Bhadur village panchayat in Goghat had been working at a stone factory near Cuttack for the last over eight months. Alleging that he was threatened several times for speaking in Bengali in shops and markets, Raja reportedly said he would hide and sometimes lock the door from outside for safety.
Raja, who was staying with two other workers, alleged that over 10 miscreants broke into his room and attacked him on January 7. While the other two workers escape, he was allegedly thrashed and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and around Rs 50,000 earned from work were snatched from him.
“I went there to earn a living. They became angry whenever I spoke Bengali. That night, I was beaten up and robbed of all my earnings of eight months. I was scared and managed to flee. As I had no money, the landlord arranged a bus ticket to Mecheda from where I travelled to Arambagh without fare,” TOI quoted Raja as saying.
Stating that he lodged a complaint at Goghat police station on Saturday about the incident, Raja said he would now work as a farmer or a mason here. His father, Sheikh Moinuddin said the family was dependent on his son’s earnings. “He will not go to Odisha again. Let him work here. He will be safe.”
Reacting sharply to the alleged incident, Trinamool Congress leader and Goghat-1 panchayat samiti president Vijay Roy claimed there appeared to be a drive to oust Bengalis in BJP-ruled states.
Terming the allegations as false and baseless, BJP’s Arambagh organisational district president Sushanta Bera said no one will tolerate if someone shouts Bangladesh’s slogan ‘Joy Bangla’. There are lakhs of Bengalis in Odisha and nothing is happening to anyone else, he said.
