BJP supporters clashed with police at a protest in Bengal on Thursday.
Calcutta:
The Bengal government’s Interior Department, without mentioning any names, said today that “a political party is giving communal color” to the controversial incident of a Sikh protester who lost his turban in a fight with the police in Howrah on Thursday.
In a series of three tweets this afternoon, the state Department of the Interior said: “A political party is bringing common color to the issue with narrow, partisan interest in a way that Bengal does not believe in.”
Confirming its “increased respect for the Panth Sikh” and noting that Sikhs live in Bengal in peace and harmony, the interior department said: “A recent incident in which an isolated individual was caught with an illegally carried firearm, in The middle of agitators in an agitation that was not authorized is now twisted out of context, distorted and given communal colors in partisan and rebel interest. “
A political party is lending a common color to the issue with narrow partisan interest in a way that Bengal doesn’t believe in. The police were done according to the law, but the highest respect for the panth sikh and the ways of GOWB is affirmed. (3/3)
– HOME DEPARTMENT – GOVERNMENT. FROM WEST BENGAL (@HomeBengal) October 11, 2020
Balwinder Singh, a 43-year-old ex-soldier, lost his turban in a fight with the police while marching to the Chief Minister’s office during the BJP protest rally.
While a section on social media accused the police of removing Singh’s turban, police shared images and said there was no attempt to hurt religious sentiments and that the turban “automatically” fell off during the scuffle.
The controversy turned volatile on Friday, with Shiromani Akali Dal and cricketer Harbajan Singh tweeting to demand that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee take action against the police officers involved.
A Sikh delegation led by S Manjinder Singh Sirsa, chairman of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara management committee, will meet Governor Jagdeep Dhankar on the turban row today. There are also plans to meet Balwinder Singh, who has been arrested, at Howrah Police Station.
BJP MP Babul Supriyo has said that the Mamata Banerjee government meets all the criteria to involve Article 356 (President’s Rule) in the state. “He has turned West Bengal into a center for terrorists. Mamata Banerjee’s expiration date has come. He will receive a reply in the 2021 elections. I have not seen such a cruel Prime Minister to date,” his tweet read.
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