An FIR has been registered against Union minister and state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar at Kalighat police station in Kolkata for allegedly throwing a slipper at a Sikh official.
The FIR, based on a complaint by local Sikh community members, has been lodged under BNS sections 208 (offence of non-attendance in obedience to an order from a public servant) 302 (offence of intentionally hurting religious feelings), 115(2) (deals with the offense of voluntarily causing hurt).
Accusing the Union minister of “deliberate and intentional act”, the members of the Sikh community demanded an apology from the BJP leader, saying they were “deeply hurt and disappointed by the incident”.
Majumdar, however, dismissed the charge, saying it was not a slipper, but only a “slipper-shaped paper” that was used to hit the police, and alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was behind the protest by the Sikh community leaders.
The incident reportedly took place on June 12 when BJP leaders, led by Majumdar, were detained near the Chief Minister’s residence in the Kalighat area after they were stopped from visiting violence-hit Mahestala in South 24 Parganas. A purported video of the incident has gone viral on social media.
Addressing mediapersons on Sunday, Gurmeet Singh, the president Gurudwara Bara Sikh Sanghat, said: “All the members of the Sikh community are hurt… We had hoped that action would be taken (against him). Hoped that Sukanta Majumdar would come forward with an apology and clarification, but nothing happened.”
Referring to the purported remarks made by BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, last year against a Sikh officer, Singh added: “Now, we feel that Sukanta Majumdar had done it purposely… If he doesn’t apologise, we will carry out a huge protest against the BJP and Majumdar.”
The Sikh community leaders alleged that the BJP was selectively targeting their community, and cited the farm protest in Punjab.
Tejendra Singh, another Sikh leader, accused the BJP of “always trying to play the divide and rule politics”. “They (BJP) are trying to divide and rule. First, they were doing Hindu and Muslim; now, they are targeting Sikh community. In West Bengal, the minority communities live very happily. We are part of the development. If the BJP tries to do politics by divide and rule, we will clearly call for not voting for BJP,” the local Sikh leader added.
The Sikh leaders said the BJP leaders were showing disrespect towards the turban repeatedly. “… Sukanta Majumdar had gone inside the van, and then came out and threw the slipper. It means, it was intentional with some motive. If no action is taken it will go on. I am not talking about only Sikhs, it is for every person in Bengal. After the video went viral, we received several calls… The turban is our taj (crown). We will not tolerate any insult of turban,” the Sikh leaders said.
Claiming that the incident was an accident, Majumdar said the person on whose head the “paper-cut” fell was part of his security detail and that he intended to throw the paper at the police.
“Has the person on whose head the paper-cut of the slipper fell complained? This is being done on the signals of Mamata Banerjee. She does appeasement politics and tries to give rise to communal politics. I feel this has nothing to do with the ordinary Sikh community… Our intention was to throw paper at the police,” the senior BJP leader said.
Speaking to The Indian Express, BJP MP Shamik Bhattacharya said, “The BJP never wants to insult the Sikh community. We have been groomed in such a way that we talk of the sacrifices made by Guru Gobind Singh ji… It is important to know who is planting all this. After the assassination of (the then Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi, what happened to the Sikhs in Delhi, everyone knows the story. The BJP stood beside them in their difficult times.”
“Everyone knows that it is a political vendetta planted by whom,” the BJP MP said, without naming anyone.