IPS officer Bushra Bano’s sudden transfer sparks row over faith-linked video

The transfer of West Bengal IPS officer Bushra Bano, barely two and a half months after her Kharagpur posting, has triggered controversy as it came a day after a video featuring her Islamic greetings drew Hindu right-wing criticism.

Bano, a 2021-batch IPS officer, was transferred on September 14 as Deputy Commandant of the State Armed Police’s 4th Battalion as part of a “minor police reshuffle.”

She was replaced as Kharagpur Additional SP by Partha Ghosh, who was earlier Additional Deputy Commissioner of the Chandannagar Police Commissionerate.

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In a similar transfer, Subhendu Mandal, who was posted as Deputy Commandant of the 4th Battalion, was appointed Additional DC in the Chandannagar commissionerate, taking Ghosh’s place.

Transfer timing arouses suspicion

The timing of Bano’s transfer triggered speculation on social media, as the order came a day after she posted a video in which she spoke to civil service aspirants about her journey to the UPSC and the support she received from Aligarh Muslim University’s Residential Coaching Academy.

She began her video with the Islamic greeting “As-salamu alaykum”, used “Inshallah” and “Masha Allah” during her message, and ended with “Jazakallah”, an expression of thanks meaning “May Allah reward you”.

The video drew criticism from several social media accounts, with some questioning why she had not used expressions such as “Jai Hind” or “Vande Mataram”.

Routine or punishment?

The Hindu Legal Fund, an organisation that objected to the video, said it had complained to West Bengal Home Secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh, arguing that an officer representing the Indian state should maintain neutrality in public communication and use national expressions. The complaint sought a review of Bano’s conduct.

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The government, however, has not officially linked the transfer to the video or the complaint. Government sources described the move as a routine administrative reshuffle, while the transfer order itself does not cite the video controversy as the reason.

The Federal could not independently verify whether the transfer had anything to do with the video. Bano herself has not publicly explained the controversy or indicated whether her transfer was connected to the complaint. She declined to comment on the online criticism and the reason for her transfer.

Opposition attacks government

The episode has nevertheless drawn political reactions. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra criticised the transfer, questioning why a Muslim woman IPS officer had been “sidelined” for using the aforementioned expressions.

“For a country whose Prime Minister inaugurated new Parliament with sengol & bare chested sadhus, transferring a Muslim IPS officer for saying Assalamalaikum & Inshallah is ridiculous. We are a nation gone mad, poisoned with hate & bigotry. God Save India (sic),” she wrote on X criticising the transfer.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi urged the IPS Association to take note, alleging that a television channel had first sensationalised the video and triggered online trolling before the government transferred her.

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In a Hindi post on X, he wrote: “Modi ji, whose government embraced Muslim heads of state from around the world who came to the BRICS summit, the West Bengal government has transferred and sidelined IPS officer Bushra Bano, posted in Kharagpur, merely because, while communicating with young people through a video message, she used ‘Inshallah’ and ‘Jazakallah’, expressions with very ordinary meanings.

“A hateful TV channel first sensationalised the matter with a video, leading to the woman IPS officer being trolled online. Instead of standing by her, the state government transferred her the very next day. What kind of India are you creating, @narendramodi ji? @IPS_Association, are you watching this?”