IPS officer's transfer in Bengal: Mehbooba calls BJP 'insecure', accuses it of policing Muslims' vocabulary

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday accused the BJP of being insecure, alleging that the ruling party at the Centre is now policing the vocabulary of the Muslim community in the country.

Referring to the case of IPS officer Bushra Bano, who was transferred from her post of ASP in West Bengal’s Kharagpur within just two-and-a-half months of taking charge, allegedly over her use of Muslim greetings in a video, Mehbooba said such incidents do not shock the minority community anymore.

“Bushra Bano's transfer for saying 'Assalamu Alaikum', 'InshaAllah' and 'JazakAllah', followed by the West Bengal Chief Minister (Suvendu Adhikari) calling an election a ‘test’ of Muslim loyalty, a veiled threat to the community as a whole, doesn't shock us anymore,” the former J-K chief minister said in a post on X.

It is amusing that simple words invoking peace and blessings of god have rattled the big political party, she said.

“What is rather amusing is that three simple words – ‘peace be upon you’, ‘god willing’, and ‘god be praised’ – can apparently rattle a party so large and powerful.

“First our food, clothes and marriage, now even our vocabulary and our votes are being policed. Insecurity, thy name is BJP,” Mehbooba said.

(With inputs from PTI)