Govt making efforts to manipulate support for inhuman treatment to Sikh man: WB governor on turban controversy

Kolkata, October 12

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Criticising the state government for its “adversarial stance” over the recent incident involving a Sikh man, whose turban was allegedly pulled by the police, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday said the Mamata Banerjee-led dispensation is making “all-out effort to manipulate support for inhuman treatment” to the man.

Dhankhar, who has been at odds with the government since assuming charge in the state, also said it is time for “healing touch” rather than justifying the incident.

Controversy erupted after visuals of the police beating up a Sikh man during the BJP’s protest last week went viral on social media, with a section of netizens claiming that the police had pulled his turban during the scuffle.

The man, identified as 43-year-old Balwinder Singh, is a resident of Bathinda in Punjab.

“Concerned at adversarial stance @WBPolice @HomeBengal with all out effort to garner and manipulate support for inhuman treatment meted out #BalvinderSingh. Time @MamataOfficial for healing touch rather than be in justification mode. Law allows capping of such wrongs.” Dhankhar said on Twitter.

He also said, “Apex Court dictum in D K Basu was outraged @MamataOfficial Recall Kabiguru felt pain of Jallianawala Bagh massacre thousand Kms away here & renounced his title. Time to vindicate Tagore so that we hold our ‘head high’ and not ‘in shame’ Time to be in rectification mode.”

The governor had on Sunday met members of the Sikh community and assured them that necessary action would be taken.

The West Bengal government had said that a political outfit was deliberately giving “communal colour” to the last week’s incident involving the Sikh man, whose turban came off during a scuffle with the police, to serve its “narrow partisan interest”.

The state home department, in a tweet, said the man was arrested in accordance with the law for carrying illegal firearms during the BJP’s march to the secretariat. PTI