West Bengal IPS officer Bushra Bano transferred after objections to ‘Assalamualaikum’, ‘Inshallah’

A muslim Indian Police Service officer, Bushra Bano, was transferred by the West Bengal Government two days after Hindutva groups on social media criticised her for using Islamic greetings. The state government officials reportedly said that it was part of routine transfers; however, opposition leaders have accused the government of furthering the hate spread by the mainstream media.

Bushra Bano posted a video on Sunday on the Social Media platform X, where she was elaborating on the help she received from Aligarh Muslim University’s Residential Coaching Academy while preparing for the Union Public Service Commission exam. She spoke about preparing for the exams after completing her PhD and returning from a teaching job in Saudi Arabia in the video.

“I hope more students enrol at the academy and use this platform so that more people like me can come forward,” she said.

Some social media accounts like The Jaipur Dialogue and the Hindu Legal Fund criticised her for using words like “assalamualaikum” (peace be unto you), as well as “inshallah”(god willing) and “jazakallah” (may god reward you).

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Hindu Legal Fund, which describes itself as a unit of the Hindu Network Foundation, said that it filed a complaint against her video with the Bengal Home Minister, saying that she had not said “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 had said.

On Monday, IPS officer Bano, who was serving as the Additional Superintendent of Police in Kharagpur, was transferred and appointed as the Deputy Commandant of the State Armed Police 4th Battalion. Two West Bengal Police Service officers were part of the rotational transfer. Bano was replaced by Partha Ghosh, from his position as Additional DC of the Chandannagar Police Commissionerate. The vacancy left by Partha Ghosh was filled by Subhendu Mandal, former Deputy Commandant of the State Armed Police 4th Battalion.

The status and pay scale of the Additional Superintendent of Police and the Deputy Commandant in the State Armed Police battalions are almost similar. However, the shift is widely viewed in political circles as a "shunt" or punitive posting.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra attacked the BJP-led state government for furthering the hate agenda. In a post on the social media platform X, Moitra argued that the central government is pretending to be secular at the BRICS summit by creating a “prayer room”; on the other hand, the West Bengal government “sidelines Muslim woman IPS officer Dr Bushara Bano” simply for saying “Assalamalaikum “ & “JazakAllah”.