A heated argument unfolded on a Kolkata Metro train when a woman confronted a Bengali passenger for speaking in Bengali instead of Hindi. The incident, which has since gone viral, saw the non-Bengali woman telling the Bengali speaker, “This is not Bangladesh. You are in India, and West Bengal is a part of India. You must be learning Hindi.”
The Bengali woman, unfazed, replied, “I live in West Bengal, in my homeland, not yours. How can you stay in my state and insult me for speaking in Bengali?” The exchange quickly escalated, with the non-Bengali woman further challenging the use of Bengali, repeatedly questioning, “The metro is not yours. West Bengal is not yours.”
The situation took a sharp turn when the Bengali passenger retorted, “The metro is mine, so is West Bengal. The metro here was built with money from West Bengal’s taxpayers, not from your state.” This response added fuel to the fire, and the confrontation grew more intense.
The argument took a more sensitive tone when the non-Bengali woman mentioned Bangladesh, stating, “You are not in Bangladesh.” This remark sparked anger from onlookers, with several passengers stepping in to calm the situation.
The video of the altercation quickly spread across social media, eliciting a strong reaction from netizens. Many criticized the non-Bengali woman for her apparent disrespect towards the Bengali language and culture. Some pointed out the irony of people who preach Hindi while speaking English themselves, while others noted that such incidents would not have been tolerated in other parts of India.
This incident follows a similar language-related confrontation in Bengaluru, where a man criticized a non-Kannada speaker for not learning the local language after living in the state for years. Both incidents highlight the ongoing debate surrounding regional languages and cultural identity in India.
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