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Kolkata: West Bengal Police on Tuesday alleged that Suvendu Adhikari slurred ‘Khalistani’ remarks to a Sikh police officer and condemned the remark made by the BJP leader as spiteful, racial, communally inciting, and criminal in a series of tweets on X (formerly Twitter).
Condemning the unwarranted, intolerable attacks on a person’s religious identity, the West Bengal police said that harsh legal action is being initiated against the culprits.
“We, the West Bengal Police fraternity, are outraged to share this video, where one of our own officers was called ‘Khalistani’ by the state’s Leader of the Opposition. His ‘fault’: he is both a proud Sikh, and a capable police officer who was trying to enforce the law…This comment is as much malicious and racial as it is communally inciting. It is a criminal act. We unequivocally condemn the unprovoked, unacceptable attack on an individual’s religious identity and beliefs aimed to incite people to take to violence and break the law… Stern legal action is being initiated,” the police said in a series of posts on ‘X’.
This comment is as much malicious and racial as it is communally inciting. It is a criminal act. We unequivocally condemn the unprovoked, unacceptable attack on an individual’s religious identity and beliefs aimed to incite people to take to violence and break the law… (2/3)
— West Bengal Police (@WBPolice) February 20, 2024
Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, responded sharply to this occurrence, alleging that the BJP’s divisive policies had blatantly crossed constitutional boundaries.
Today, the BJP’s divisive politics has shamelessly overstepped constitutional boundaries. As per @BJP4India every person wearing a TURBAN is a KHALISTANI.
I VEHEMENTLY CONDEMN this audacious attempt to undermine the reputation of our SIKH BROTHERS & SISTERS, revered for their… pic.twitter.com/toYs8LhiuU
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) February 20, 2024
“Today, the BJP’s divisive politics has shamelessly overstepped constitutional boundaries. As per BJP every person wearing a TURBAN is a KHALISTANI. I VEHEMENTLY CONDEMN this audacious attempt to undermine the reputation of our SIKH BROTHERS & SISTERS, revered for their SACRIFICES and UNWAVERING DETERMINATION to our nation. We stand firm in protecting Bengal’s social harmony and will take stern lawful measures to prevent any attempts to disrupt it,” she said in a post on ‘X’.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress party, also sharply condemned the incident, claiming that the BJP’s poison of hatred has made people so blind that they are unable to respect an officer dressed in khaki or even recognize a farmer or jawan.
अपना ‘राजनीतिक बाज़ार’ सजाने के लिए भाजपा द्वारा की गई ‘नफरत की खेती’ का ज़हर समाज में फैल चुका है।
इस ज़हर से अंधे हो चुके लोग न किसान देख रहे हैं, न जवान और न ही खाकी का सम्मान।
देश IPS जसप्रीत सिंह के साथ है। https://t.co/iL6QnQEmin
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 20, 2024
“The poison spread by the BJP’s ‘cultivation of hatred’ has tainted our ‘political marketplace.’ People who have been blinded by this poison are neither able to see the farmers, nor the soldiers, nor the respect for khaki. The nation stands with IPS Jaspreet Singh,” he said in a post on ‘X’.
ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar stated that the incident happened this morning at Dhamakhali when a police team was sent to execute Section 144. IPS Jaspeet Singh of the SSP Intelligence Branch commanded the force. Subhendu Adhikari, the leader of the West Bengal opposition, was among the several MLAs in Dhamakhali (and on their way to Sandeshkhali). Subhendu Adhikari referred to a police officer as a Khalisthani after a confrontation with him.
He further stated that, we had the police force present to implement section 144. IPS Jaspeet Singh, SSP Intelligence Branch, was in charge of it. In Dhamakhali, there were multiple MLAs, among them was the leader of the opposition in West Bengal, Subhendu Adhikari. A political leader should never call a police officer a Khalisthani, as Subhendu Adhikari did during their fight with the officer. We object to it with great force. We’re going to take legal action against him for making such a serious remark.
Unrest has been raging in the Sandeshkhali area for more than ten days, with female protestors demanding justice for what they believe to be atrocities carried out by TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates. Many women in Sandeshkhali had accused Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates of forcing them into a “land-grab and sexual assault.”
The West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) received a notice from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) requiring him to provide a report in two weeks regarding the unjustifiable detention of a journalist from a vernacular news channel by the police in Sandeshkhali.
According to the NHRC, the complainant, who also happens to be the journalist in question’s wife, claimed that she cannot reach him and worries about his wellbeing. She also said that she believed there was an attempt to stifle the media in West Bengal by using “coercion and intimidation.”
Meanwhile, a statement regarding the journalist’s arrest in West Bengal was also released by the Editors Guild of India. A journalist connected to Republic TV was taken into custody by West Bengal Police on Monday in Sandeshkhali.
Since a mob purportedly connected to Shajahan attacked Enforcement Directorate officers on January 5 who had gone to search his property in relation to a ration scam, Shajahan has been evading capture. Two TMC leaders, Uttam Sardar, a local party official, and Shiba Prasad Hazra, a parishad member of North 24 Parganas Zilla, were taken into custody by police and charged with attempted murder and gangrape.
