Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra addresses party workers during a constituency visit, in Krishnanagar, West Bengal, Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has written to the National Commission of Minorities alleging discrimination against Muslim IAS and IPS officers in West Bengal. The senior Lok Sabha MP has also stated that Muslim bureaucrats are kept out of events involving Union government in West Bengal and that the discrimination is based on religion.
“On three separate dates, across two official visits and in two cities, three senior officers were asked to leave, or told not to attend, events at which their presence was integral to the business being transacted, while their counterparts of other faiths took part as usual. The one factor these three officers share, and the one factor that sets them apart from the colleagues who were permitted to remain, is their religion,” Ms. Moitra’s letter sent on Thursday (September 17, 2026) stated.
In her letter, Ms. Moitra has highlighted at least seven instances in two months in West Bengal where Muslim IAS and IPS officers were removed from meetings where, she said, they should have been present based on their duties and designations.
“When the senior-most Muslim officers of the State – officers who have risen through a merit-based national civil service and who command thousands of personnel – are kept out of the room in which security is discussed with the Union Home Minister, the message received down the chain of command is unmistakable: that a person’s religion is a legitimate proxy for suspicion,” Ms. Moitra’s letter also added.
She has asked NCM chairman Harjit Singh Grewal to take immediate action into the matter and help stop such discrimination in the future.
Ms. Moitra also appeared before the police regarding a case filed against her on this issue by the WB Police. In a recent incident, a woman Muslim IPS officer was transferred from her position in West Bengal after right-wing groups objected to her saying ‘Assalamu Alaikum,’ ‘Inshallah’, and ‘Jazakallah’. The Trinamool MP had highlighted the transfer also on social media.
Published – September 18, 2026 03:07 pm IST
