Policemen dressed as priests have been deployed in the Kashi Vishwanath temple complex of Varanasi, as per a report in The Indian Express. According to the newspaper, the police in one of the most revered temples in the country now appear in dhoti-kurta and sport tilak on their foreheads like priests.
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Police say that this step will help in making the environment better for the devotees in the temple. Varanasi Police Commissioner Mohit Aggarwal said that the initiative is a trial for 15 days, after which it will be reviewed.
Aggarwal said that such a trial was conducted previously in 2018 but was stopped thereafter. “We need to ensure that devotees feel respected especially on occasions when huge crowds and VIPs visit the temple,” he said.
At present, only four policemen wearing dhoti–kurta stand at the four doors of the sanctum sanctorum. A senior police officer said that along with these four, four women cops are deployed too, but they are yet to appear in the trial outfits.
Some more policemen have been deployed at a distance of 15 m from the sanctum sanctorum, but those cops are in khaki.
Akhilesh Yadav objects to dhoti-kurta-clad cops
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has objected to the deployment of policemen dressed as priests. He shared a video report of policemen disguised as priests controlling the crowd in the temple and wrote, “According to which ‘police manual’ is it correct to have policemen disguised as priests?”
Yadav wrote further on X, “Those who give such orders should be suspended. If any thug takes advantage of this tomorrow and loots the innocent public, what answer will the Uttar Pradesh administration give? Condemnable!”
Police explain
However, a senior police officer said that the purpose was to create a better environment for the devotees visiting the temple and to remove any negative perceptions about the police.
The officer said that when there are long queues in the temple, people get restless. To mitigate their stressful experience, the policemen deployed there should behave in a friendly manner with the devotees and dhoti-kurta is expected to create a friendly atmosphere.
A three-day communication skill training programme was concluded today for the coppers deployed in the temple.
Police Commissioner Aggarwal says that ropes will aid the process of crowd management in queues leading to the darshan of the linga of Kashi Vishwanath. He said that usually during VIP movements, policemen remove the devotees, which some take for an insult, “but now this will not happen”.
About 800 policemen are deployed on rotation for the security of Kashi Vishwanath Temple, out of which about 250 are on duty at any given point in time. At present, every day about 5 lakh devotees visit Kashi Vishwanath Temple for darshan.
