Thursday, 24 April 2025
Thursday, 24 April 2025
Opposition MLAs of Assam Assembly on Friday demanded a motion be moved condemning BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi for referring to Dhubri district as 'mini Bangladesh' while speaking in Rajya Sabha.
On March 20, 2025, Trivedi referred to Assam's Dhubri district as a "mini Bangladesh" while saying that the Opposition’s rejection of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was driven by "electoral considerations," implying that political parties were shielding illegal migrants for vote-bank politics.
In recent years, political leaders across India, especially of the BJP, have repeatedly used terms like "mini Pakistan" and "mini Bangladesh" to describe districts and regions, often in the context of migration, religious identity, or electoral politics. What once seemed like stray remarks has now become a recurring pattern in the country’s political discourse.
In December 2024, Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Nitesh Rane called Kerala "a mini Pakistan" while attacking the Congress.
Following criticism, Rane clarified his statement, saying he was raising concerns about religious conversion of Hindus and "love jihad" in Kerala.
Himanta Biswa Sarma
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma called Jharkhand a “mini Bangladesh” in October 2024 while campaigning for the Assembly elections.
Accusing the Jharkhand government of allowing infiltration, Sarma warned that the state was at risk of turning into a "mini-Bangladesh."
The Assam CM said, "The infiltrators are causing a huge disturbance in Jharkhand's culture and 'Adivasi asmita'. If this continues, Jharkhand will see a demographic change and it will become a mini-Bangladesh. Santhal Pargana is in line to become mini-Bangladesh."
Ajay Alok
In June 2019, BJP leader Ajay Alok who was a JD(U) spokesperson, alleged that West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee was "fast turning into a mini Pakistan" due to alleged infiltration.
Speaking to a news channel, he claimed, "Biharis are being driven out by Rohingyas," and urged Banerjee to "prevent her state from degenerating into a mini Pakistan."
Suvendu Adhikari
Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, in March 2021, made similar comments during a public meeting in Nandigram.
Adhikari told the crowd, "Election is knocking at the door. You are not giving votes to Begum. If you vote for Begum, there will be a mini-Pakistan. A Dawood Ibrahim has come up in your locality. We will note down everything. What is the government doing? What is the use of it?" according to a Times of India report.
But this is not about the BJP.
In April 2016, Bengal minister Firhad Hakim described Garden Reach as "mini-Pakistan" while speaking to a correspondent from the Pakistani daily The Dawn.
By often invoking "mini Pakistan" and "mini Bangladesh", political leaders in India have just not made provocative statements—they have turned geographical metaphors into tools of polarisation.
