Used Muslim greeting: Hindu entity complaints against the IAS officer
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Kolkata: A West Bengal IPS officer has come under communal scrutiny after a Hindu entity lodged a complaint against her, accusing her of using Islamic greetings in a video documenting her journey into the civil services, according to a Siasat report.
The complaint, submitted to the West Bengal Home Secretary by the Hindu Legal Fund, objects to IPS officer Bushra Bano opening her video with Islamic greetings and ending it with another religious expression, such as “Assalamualaikum,” “Inshallah”, “Jazakallah”, etc. The organisation argued that a government officer representing the Indian state should maintain neutrality in public communication and instead use national expressions, calling for an inquiry.
Apparently, the complainant wanted the officer to greet using “Vande Mataram” or “Jai Hind”.
The controversy has emerged alongside growing attention to Bano’s unconventional journey to the IPS. Born in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj district, she pursued higher education at Aligarh Muslim University, earning a PhD in management studies and clearing the National Eligibility Test-JRF.
After marriage and having children, Bano worked as an assistant professor in Saudi Arabia before returning to India to enter the civil services. She credited AMU’s Residential Coaching Academy with supporting her preparation through study materials, library facilities and test series.
Bano cleared the UPSC examination twice. In 2018, she secured the 277th rank and was allotted the Indian Railway Traffic Service, but could not join after becoming pregnant with her second child. She returned the following year, improved her rank to 234 and secured entry into the IPS.
A 2021-batch officer of the West Bengal cadre, Bano began her career as an ASP in Hooghly Rural. She was promoted to Additional SP in June this year and is currently posted in Kharagpur.
The complaint has now placed her religious expression at the centre of a controversy over the identity and expected public conduct of civil servants.