Ham aah bhibharte hain to hojaate hain badnaam/Wo qatlbhikarte hain to charchanahinhota
– Akbar Allahabadi
These poetic lines aptly describe the uncalled-for controversy over an inspirational address by a young IPS officer, Bushra Bano, at a gathering of civil services aspirants comprising mainly women, minority (read Muslims) and SC/ST candidates at a government-run free coaching academy at Aligarh Muslim University, her alma mater, a few weeks back. She cracked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 2021 after doing thorough preparations at the AMU-based Residential Coaching Academy.
Before her selection as an IPS officer, she had done teaching in Saudi Arabia after completing her PhD in management from AMU, served as a Provincial Civil Service (PCS) officer in UP after clearing the test for the purpose with Rank 6 in 2017 and cleared the UPSC exam but with a lower rank in 2019, not satisfying for her. Her goal was higher which she finally achieved in 2021 with UPSC Rank 234 when she got selected and joined the IPS.
She, perhaps, never expected the storm that has come to be created after she posted her video-recorded address on YouTube. Anyone who goes through her speech with an open mind, keeping in view her social background and that of the civil service aspirants she was addressing to, would take in stride the Muslim cultural expressions she used. That she addressed the students while being in her uniform might have been aimed at leaving a lasting impression on them.
Of course, Bushra confidently began her lecture with Assalam-u-Alaikum and used the term InShaAllah to tell the students that one day they too would crack the civil services exam as she did and become officers to serve the country in that capacity. She ended her address with Dhanyavad and Jazakallah. In normal circumstances, her brilliant lecture would have been appreciated by one and all despite her use of expressions from the Islamic lexicon.
In support of my argument, here I would like to narrate an incident concerning this writer a few decades ago when India had a different kind of atmosphere, truly reflecting the country’s plural social ethos.
Soon after I had joined The Tribune, the largest circulated English language daily with its headquarters at Chandigarh, what happened with me owing to my social background could have ruined my career if the country had the kind of environment that prevails today.
I clearly remember that I, too, had used the Islamic salutary expression, Assalam-u-Alaikum, though subconsciously, when I suddenly came across my immediate boss, the newspaper’s News Editor, a Brahmin, while he was coming out of the paper’s Newsroom and I was going in, using the same door. I was a mere trainee Sub-Editor, not even a full-fledged employee of The Tribune Trust, the organisation that published the newspaper, having a glorious history.
A thorough gentleman that he was, Sharma ji, as we affectionately called him, just smiled after being greeted with Assalam-u-Alaikum by me before we parted company. Being disturbed owing to what had happened that evening, next day I specially met him in his big cabin to explain why I had greeted him with Assalam-u-Alaikum. He laughed it off and politely told me to forget about it. He, instead, asked me how I was feeling as a new-comer to The Tribune. He assured me that I had a great future ahead if I continued to work hard with total dedication to my profession – journalism.
But those were different times. People would simply smile and ignore if we happen to conduct ourselves, for whatever reasons, the way Bushra did when she was posted as ASP at Kharagpur in West Bengal. Despite denials by the state’s authorities, she was punished and transferred on Sep. 14, 2026, as the Deputy Commandant of the State Armed Police IVth Battalion after the video concerned came to the notice of some right-wing zealots, particularly those associated with the Hindu Legal Fund, who considered the use of Muslim cultural terms unpalatable.
In defence of Bushra, it is argued that no one raised even an eyebrow when in May this year senior IPS officer CV Anand held a puja in his office before he took charge as the Director-General of Telangana. He posted the puja-related details on X, but it was taken as something normal. Another controversial IPS officer belonging to UP, Anuj Chaudhary, was photographed participating in a religious procession concerning his community in January 2025. He was also noticed carrying a mace while being in uniform. But he was given a clean chit.
This, however, does not mean that the questionable behaviour of these officers needs to be emulated. Ideally, government officers should behave in an uncontroversial manner, maintaining neutrality in various ways. In an atmosphere vitiated by hate politics, our officers, particularly those in the government, should be very tactful in their conduct. What the rules say is not enough. An officer has to function in a manner so that he or she does not land himself/herself in avoidable trouble. This suggestion is based on what at least three retired IPS officers pointed out to me during a discussion on the issue concerning the Bushra Bano case.
These retired officers, my old friends, held very senior positions during their service period. All three rose to become police chiefs in their respective states. They did not want to be quoted by name for obvious reasons.
One of these IPS officers specifically told me that Bushra Bano was fully justified in using cultural greeting expressions from the Islamic lexicon in accordance with her family background. Going by the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules1964, which applies in the case of an IPS officer, there is no specifically prescribed vocabulary or a set of expressions like Good Morning, Namaste, Namaskar, Sir/Madam for greeting anyone. The Rules, of course, talk of behavioural conduct, manner of communication or the tone of an expression, but this is not the issue here.
However, one of the retired officers I interacted with did not approve of Bushra using the expressions she did while addressing the civil service aspirants. He, being a Muslim, advised government officers and others holding positions of authority to be conscious of the prevailing atmosphere. Displaying bravado in such circumstances is not a wise course of action. If one belongs to a minority community, particularly the Muslim community, one must read the writing on the wall.
One officer, a topper of his days, pleaded to avoid discussions on the subject. “Bhai sahib, let us talk something else. These are difficult times. Let us interact on non-controversial subjects. These are our twilight years. We should see to it that we are not caught in a controversy these days.”
This is how people would react during the 1975 Emergency days we witnessed. Today, of course, there is no declared emergency, but one notices the same kind of fear psychosis that gripped people, particularly those in authority, during the days gone by.
[The writer, a former Deputy Editor of The Tribune, is a New Delhi-based political commentator. Email: syed.nooruzzaman@gmail.com]