West Bengal transfers Muslim IPS officer after Hindutva groups protest Islamic greetings

The West Bengal government has transferred Muslim Indian Police Service officer Bushara Bano, two days after Hindutva groups criticised her for using Islamic greetings in a video posted online, The Times of India reported. 

Bano, a 2021-batch officer, was serving as additional superintendent of police in Kharagpur, Paschim Medinipur district. Under an order issued on Monday, she was transferred to the post of deputy commanding officer of the 4th battalion of the State Armed Police.

The transfer came after a video in which Bano spoke about the role of the Residential Coaching Academy at Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh in helping her prepare for the Union Public Service Commission examination.

In the video, Bano used the Islamic greetings “assalamualaikum”, meaning “peace be unto you”, “inshallah”, meaning “God willing”, and “jazakallah”, meaning “may God reward you”.

Several social media accounts, including The Jaipur Dialogues and the Hindu Legal Fund, criticised Bano for using the expressions and alleged that she had not used “Vande Mataram” or “Jai Hind”.

“A serving officer representing the Indian state should maintain neutrality and use national expressions in public communication,” the Hindu Legal Fund said in a post on X.

The group said it had filed a complaint with the West Bengal home secretary and sought action against the officer.

Opposition questions transfer

The state government’s decision drew criticism from the Opposition.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said the transfer was contradictory to the Centre’s public display of secular credentials during the BRICS summit in Delhi, where she referred to the creation of a “prayer room”.

Moitra said on X that a Muslim woman IPS officer had been “sidelined” at the state level simply for saying “assalamalaikum” and “jazakallah”.

She also accused the state government of furthering what she described as hate propagated by “godi media”.

Two other officers were transferred under the same order, according to the report.