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In India’s administrative and law‑enforcement corridors, secularism and neutrality are being redefined in ways that feel sudden, terrifying and partisan. Under the same constitution, two officers serving the same country are now being judged by two completely opposite and contradictory standards of justice.

Recently, Dr Bushra Bano, a 2024‑batch Muslim woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer posted in West Bengal, was transferred overnight merely because she used ordinary cultural and religious phrases like assalamu alaikum, insha’allah and jazakallah in an inspirational video made to guide UPSC aspirants.

Dr Bano, serving as Additional Superintendent of Police in Kharagpur, was abruptly made Deputy Commandant in the State Armed Police (SAP) and moved away. This happened after a right‑wing group calling itself Hindu Legal Fund, and which describes itself as a unit of a Hindu Network Foundation, filed a complaint with the West Bengal home secretary over her video.

The complaint’s essence, as posted on X, is: “She began with assalamu alaikum, said insha’allah in the middle and ended with jazakallah – and she did not say Vande Mataram or Jai Hind. A serving officer representing the Indian state must maintain neutrality in public communication and use national expressions.”

On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh police officer Anuj Chaudhary, who was seen brandishing a mace while in uniform during religious pilgrimages such as the kanwar yatra, and who made inflammatory and vitriolic public statements was promoted instead of being punished.

Also read: Sambhal: Despite Court Order, UP Police Refuses to File FIR Against Erring Cops

This contradiction highlights the stark reality of the bureaucracy and power structures in India have succumbed to the pressure of majoritarianism, where displays of faith by one religion are considered devotion to duty and cultural pride, while the basic etiquettes and greetings of another religion are labelled treason, extremism and incompetence.

A target of Hindutva outfits

Bushra Bano is no ordinary IPS officer. With roots in the Kannauj district of Uttar Pradesh, she earned a PhD in Management Studies from Aligarh Muslim University, cleared the NET-JRF test and became an assistant professor, who worked in Saudi Arabia. Upon returning to India, she took the grueling UPSC........

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