The West Bengal government transferred Indian Police Service officer Bushara Bano on Monday, 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 IPS officer, had appeared in a video on Sunday discussing how the Residential Coaching Academy at Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh had helped her prepare for the Union Public Service Commission examination.
The video drew criticism from several social media accounts, including The Jaipur Dialogue and the Hindu Legal Fund, over Bano’s use of Islamic expressions including “assalamualaikum”, “inshallah” and “jazakallah”.
The groups argued that she should also have used expressions such as “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, adding that it had complained to the West Bengal home secretary and sought action against Bano.
Bano had been serving as additional superintendent of police in Kharagpur in Paschim Medinipur district. Under Monday’s transfer order, she was appointed deputy commanding officer of the fourth battalion of the State Armed Police.
Two other police officers were also transferred under the order.
The move drew criticism from the Opposition, with Trinamool Congress lawmaker Mahua Moitra questioning the government’s decision.
Moitra said that while the BJP-led central government was projecting its “secular credentials” at the BRICS summit in Delhi by creating a “prayer room”, the state government had sidelined a Muslim woman IPS officer “simply for saying” Islamic greetings.
She accused the West Bengal government of reinforcing what she described as hate propagated by “godimedia TV” and “lapdog media”.
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