A Sikh delegation on Sunday met Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar seeking justice for Balwinder Singh whom a cop allegedly pulled down by his Pagdi (turban) during the Thursday’s BJP march to the State secretariat even as the Bengal Home Department rejected the allegations saying what happened with Singh was non-discriminatory and that the “Sikh brothers and sisters live in Bengal peacefully and happily.”
With Assembly elections scheduled to take place in mid 2021 and the BJP managing to make it a pan-India issue questioning Mamata Banerjee Government’s true secular credentials, the State Home Department tweeted a clarification saying the Sikh man was detained after he was found with a gun in the middle of the rally.
“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 … 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,” an official statement form he Home Department said.
Stopping short of naming the BJP the Government said “One political party is giving communal colour to the subject in narrow partisan interest in a manner that Bengal does not believe in. Policing was done as per law, but highest respect for the Sikh panth and ways from GOWB is affirmed.”
The Government statement came almost in tandem with a delegation led by Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee member Manjinder Singh Sirsa meeting the Governor seeking speedy justice for Balwinder Singh.
“We are determined to take this issue to its logical conclusion,” said Sirsa after meeting the Governor wondering “is this the way you treat your men in uniform who have taken all the risks to fight the terrorists near the border.” SGMC had lodged a complaint with the Howrah Police Station.
Balwinder Singh who was reportedly present in the BJP crowd in the capacity of a personal security guard of a saffron leader Priyangshu Singh when he was caught carrying a gun is an ex-central forces officer.
Subsequently he was detained and forcibly pinned down by an overenthusiastic police man following a minor scuffle.
The accused who was earlier given four-day police custody was on Sunday presented before a local court one day in advance where the magistrate allowed another 8-day police custody for him.
With the Sikhs having a sizeable presence in parts of Bhawanipore area (Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s constituency), Asansol, Siliguri and Kharagpur the BJP has been firmly backing Singh accusing the Government of religious persecution.