Mehbooba Mufti criticises Bushra Bano transfer, accuses BJP of policing Muslim vocabulary
Mehbooba Mufti linked the transfer of IPS officer Bushra Bano to what she called growing scrutiny of Muslim vocabulary and votes.
Peoples Democratic Party president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party over the transfer of IPS officer Bushra Bano, saying the officer's use of everyday Islamic expressions had been enough to unsettle a party "so large and powerful".
Ms. Mufti said she found it striking that three common phrases — "Assalamu Alaikum", "InshaAllah" and "JazakAllah" — could provoke such a reaction. She rendered them in English as "peace be upon you", "God willing" and "God be praised".
In her remarks, she placed the transfer alongside a recent statement by the West Bengal Chief Minister describing an election as a "test" of Muslim loyalty. Taken together, she said, the two developments amount to a veiled threat to the community and no longer come as a surprise.
"First our food, clothes and marriages, now even our vocabulary and our votes are being policed," Ms. Mufti said, adding that insecurity was at the root of such actions.
Ms. Bano had been serving as Additional Superintendent of Police in Kharagpur, in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. She has been moved to the post of Deputy Commandant of the SAP 4th Battalion.