On January 5, when a mob attacked a team of ED officials in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali, Jaspreet Singh, then superintendent of police in North Dinajpur’s Islampur, was 550 km away. 

Weeks later, when women of Sandeshkhali alleged sexual exploitation by local Trinamool Congress leaders, the 2016 batch IPS officer, now a special superintendent in the West Bengal police’s intelligence branch, was still far away.

But now he finds himself embroiled in a controversy that is, albeit temporarily, overshadowing the allegations of atrocities in Sandeshkhali. 

Singh pushed back after being called “Khalistani” by a group of BJP leaders in Sandeshkhali on Tuesday. The group included legislators Agnimitra Paul and Shankar Ghosh and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. 

Now, Sikh communities across Kolkata have taken to the streets in protest against the BJP. On its part, the BJP has alleged the slur was not used against Singh. Adhikari even gave the West Bengal police “24 hours” to produce proof that he did use it.

Viral videos and an insult

Before coming to Islampur, Singh reportedly served in a special task force and as additional DC of traffic in the Siliguri Police Commissionerate and was the Bidhannagar zone deputy commissioner. He was also an additional SP in Raiganj.

On February 20, Singh was on duty in Sandeshkhali to enforce section 144 when, during a confrontation between BJP leaders and the police, the insult was allegedly hurled toward him. The videos subsequently went viral on social media.  

In one video, Singh confronted Pal and others, saying: “I will take legal action against all of you. Just because I am wearing a turban, you are calling me this. If I didn’t have my turban, would you have called me Khalistani? If a police officer wears a turban on duty, he is Khalistani for you? Shame on you.”

In response, the BJP leaders implied they didn’t call him “Khalistani”; they were indicating he wasn’t adequately performing his duty as a police officer.

Singh countered, “You can call me whatever you want as a police officer. But please don’t say anything about my religion. I didn’t say anything about your religion, then why did you call me Khalistani?” He also gestured towards someone off-camera and said, “They called me Khalistani. Why did you say things about my religion?”

In another video, shared by the West Bengal police on X, Adhikari allegedly said, “This is a Khalistani.” But it’s unclear whether his words were directed towards Singh.

A third video showed that, soon after the “Khalistani” comment, someone said, “You please mind your language.”

Bangla daily Anandabazar Patrika reported that Adhikari removed himself from the dispute soon after Singh accused him of using the slur. Meanwhile, women leaders from the BJP came forward and continued the confrontation.

The state police insisted that Adhikari called Singh a “Khalistani”. In a press conference that day, ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar said Adhikari “directly pointed a finger at Jaspreet Singh, who was in charge there, and said ‘This is a Khalistani’”.

“We are shocked to hear such a provocative and disrespectful comment from a political leader. We protest and condemn it,” Sarkar said. “At the same time, we would like to say that no comment can be made about the religious beliefs or religious sentiments of any person in this way. It is not only reprehensible but also a legally punishable offence. We are on duty here and some may be Sikh or Hindu or Muslim. But for him to make provocative, insulting and inciting comments like this is an attempt to spread religious discord. It can’t be done. Just because he is wearing a turban, he becomes Khalistani? We will take all legal action against this comment.”

On the same day, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted the video clip of Singh. She said the BJP’s “divisive politics has shamelessly overstepped constitutional boundaries”.

Singh’s former colleagues in Islampur are also taken aback that a competent officer was seemingly subjected to sectarian insults. 

“He is a great police officer and he doesn’t deserve to be insulted that way,” said an officer from the police district, on condition of anonymity. “As long as he was the SP here, no major incidents of crime happened. He handled everything very efficiently. The most important thing about him was he earned respect for his work from officers of all ranks.”

Protests against ‘dangerous’ narrative

On February 20, the Burnpur Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee held a protest outside the house of Agnimitra Paul, the BJP MLA from Asansol South who had been part of the group confronting Singh in Sandeshkhali. The committee warned of stepping up their protests if Paul and others did not apologise. 

In Kolkata, Sikh groups called for indefinite protests until BJP leaders apologised. On February 20, hundreds of Sikhs marched to the BJP headquarters in Central Avenue and staged a dharna, with posters and banners calling for Adhikari’s arrest. They also demanded apologies from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Bengal BJP leaders who had been present when Singh was allegedly insulted.

“We have already started taking legal action,” said a protester named Kulwinder Singh. “Sikhs have filed cases in multiple locations. Unless BJP leaders apologise to the entire Sikh community, we will continue with our protest.” Newslaundry could not confirm what cases had been filed in connection with the incident.

Satnam Singh Ahluwalia, a member of the West Bengal Minorities Commission and general secretary of the Gurudwara Behala in Kolkata, told Newslaundry he sent a letter to the chairman of the National Commission for Minorities demanding immediate action against the BJP leaders involved.

“We are very disturbed by this shameful idea that anyone who wears a turban becomes a Khalistani. This is very unfortunate that even an on-duty police officer is not spared,” he said. “I have written to the chairman of National Commission for Minorities and have said that Tuesday’s incident could disturb the social fabric, harmony and peace of West Bengal.”

Ahluwalia added, “Religion and politics should never be mixed. Those leaders have all the rights to fight politically. They could have said anything to Jaspreet Singh as a police officer. But we are extremely hurt by the way they just saw his turban and humiliated him because of his religion.”

Jasmit Singh, a member of the Kolkata-based The Sikh Forum, told Newslaundry that what had happened was “dangerous”.

“We have to take exemplary action so that the narrative – that anyone wearing a turban is a Khalistani – is not set,” he said. “But we must also remember that just because they provoked us, we do not have the right to react in whatever way we want. We believe in the constitution and we trust the country’s judiciary. We will not be reactive. We have to also remember that what we do today will teach and prepare our kids for the future.”

BJP’s version of events

Adhikari and Paul have both said they did not call Singh a “Khalistani”. Adhikari told Supratim Sarkar, the ADG of South Bengal, that he had “24 hours to prove, otherwise I will take legal action against you”.

Adhikari also told the media on February 20 that Mamata Banerjee was resorting to “cheap politics” and Singh was merely trying to be in her “good books”.

“Pakistani, Khalistani...we don’t need to say these things. The rude way this officer has behaved, he is trying to keep himself in the good books of Trinamool and the Trinamool supremo,” he said. “That’s why he is serving false information. We never do such things. Mamata Banerjee does cheap politics. We have never attacked any religion or community and we will not do so even in the future. Our dream is to have Akhand Bharat and our voice was, is and will be in the future against anti-national forces."

Paul, on the other hand, said her lawyers would “send notices to all the media houses who irresponsibly claimed that I had called the Sikh officers a Khalistani”.

“There were almost 1,000 people. I am sure you know there were people from the CPIM and TMC,” she said, referring to the crowd in Sandeshkhali that day. “Now, we don’t even know if someone called the officer a Khalistani. Even if someone did, is there a video of the person calling him that?” 

Paul continued: “The chief minister claimed the BJP has insulted the Sikh community. But where was she during one of our marches towards Nabanna, when a Sikh BJP worker’s turban was defaced and he was dragged away by the Kolkata police? Where was her sympathy for the Sikh community then?”

The incident in question happened in October 2020 during a BJP protest in Howrah to Nabanna, the state secretariat. The police later clarified that the turban of the man, who was a security guard named Balwinder Singh, had accidentally fallen off during a scuffle with police officials. Before arresting him, the police said they offered him a chance to put his turban back.

The BJP’s prickly response, however, irked protesters. 

“Today, the BJP leaders are asking the police and administration for proof. What more proof do they need than an IPS officer’s words?” asked Raghkir Singh, who participated in the protest outside BJP headquarters in Kolkata. “Do they mean to say an on-duty IPS officer lied in front of so many cameras and people? This kind of intimidation tactic by them is not going to work. Sikhs will continue to protest until they apologise.”

He added, “We have always felt safe in West Bengal. Even during the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, Sikhs in Bengal did not face any issue. The social fabric of West Bengal is one of the best in the country and we will ensure that no one can disturb it.”

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