Turban row: Minorities panel seeks report from Bengal govt

KOLKATA: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on Monday sought a report from the West Bengal government over the alleged pulling of a Sikh man's turban during BJP’s protest march on October 8.

In a letter to the chief secretary and the director general of police, the joint secretary of NCM DE Richards said the commission had received a complaint from Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga on the alleged pulling of the turban of a Sikh private security officer. It asked the government to submit a report on it within 15 days.

The BJP has already raised the issue aggressively on its social media platforms which went viral. Earlier, the state government said on its Twitter handle that the turban of Balwinder Singh, the security officer of a BJP activist who was present in the protest march, fell off during the scuffle and it was not pulled by any cop.

Referring to BJP’s attempt to use the incident as its political tool, Chief Minister Mamata labelled the saffron camp as more dangerous than Covid-19. "I never saw a pandemic like BJP before. People are dying but it doesn’t matter to them. They want to come to power at any cost. But it will not happen," she said during the event.    

The state home department came up with statements saying the incident is being twisted out of context, distorted, and given communal colors in fractious and partisan interest.

"Our Sikh brothers and sisters live here in West Bengal in perfect peace and harmony, in happiness and tranquility, with respect from all of us for their faith and practices. A recent incident when one isolated individual got caught with…. one illegally carried firearm amidst agitations in an agitation that was not authorized is now being twisted out of context, being distorted, and being given communal colors in fractious and partisan interest," the home department tweeted.