The controversy over a turban of Sikh man falling off during the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) march earlier this week refused to die down even after West Bengal police said the turban had fallen off “in the scuffle”.
On Saturday, BJP leaders raked up the issue afresh and some tweeted visuals of the incident during Thursday’s rally. The BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya raised the issue on Saturday and questioned the silence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Mr. Vijayvargiya said that the incident amounts to “insult of religious sentiment”.
Former governor of Tripura Tathagata Roy, who is seeking to play an active part in West Bengal politics, tweeted videos of the incident and accused the police of “mercilessly beating up and snatching and untying the turban of Sardar Balwinder Singh”. The West Bengal police has denied all these allegations saying it respects all religions.
“The officer specifically asked him to put his pagri back before the arrest. The attached photo has been clicked right before he was escorted to the police station. We remain committed to our duty to uphold law and order in the State,” the WB Police said on social media.
The police had accused Balwinder Singh of “carrying firearms”.
Videos of a firearm recovered from the 43-year-old Mr. Singh during the rally on Thursday were also aired by local television channels. He was arrested on Thursday after recovery of the firearm.
“The pagri had fallen off automatically in the scuffle that ensued, without any attempt to do so by our officer (visible in the video attached). It is never our intention to hurt the sentiments of any community,” the police said. The State unit president of BJP Dilip Ghosh had said Mr. Singh was a security personnel of a BJP leader
Several members of the Sikh community, including cricketer Harbhajan Singh, tweeted, tagging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, to say, “Please look into the matter. This just isn’t done”.