‘Crimes Against Women in Bengal Cause Us Deep Pain and Anger’: PM Modi in Durgapur
PM Modi also accused the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government of protecting those responsible for the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Hospital.;
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sharp attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government on Friday, expressing deep anguish over rising crimes against women in the state. Speaking at a rally in Durgapur, he said the reports of atrocities were not only painful but also made him angry.
Modi specifically called out the state administration for allegedly protecting the culprit in the high-profile rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital last August. The convict, Sanjoy Roy, a former civic volunteer with Kolkata Police, has been sentenced to life imprisonment. The brutal case had sparked widespread outrage across the country.
The Prime Minister also addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding Bengali-speaking migrant workers. He criticized the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Congress, and Left parties for failing to recognize Bengali as a classical language, something he claimed the BJP took the initiative to do. “Wherever there is a BJP government, Bengalis are treated with dignity,” he said, asserting that Bengali identity — *Bangla ashmita* — holds great importance for the BJP.
His remarks followed a protest led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata earlier this week. Braving heavy rain, Banerjee accused the BJP-led central government of secretly instructing states under its control to detain Bengali-speaking workers, a charge the Centre has denied.
With West Bengal heading to the polls next year, Modi ramped up his criticism of the TMC government, accusing it of stalling the state’s development.
“The TMC government has become a wall between Bengal and progress,” he said. “The day this wall collapses, Bengal will surge ahead on a new path of development. Real change can only come when the TMC is gone.”
Promising a brighter future under a BJP-led state government, Modi assured the youth that Bengal’s challenges could be overcome.
“I want to tell the youth — Bengal’s problems are not permanent. With a new government, Bengal can rise again and become a major industrial hub in the country,” he said.