Police personnel disguised as priests have been deployed at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi in an effort to control the crowd of more and more worshippers. Akhilesh Yadav, the president of the Samajwadi Party (SP), questioned the Uttar Pradesh administration and denounced the action, which caused controversy.
“According to which ‘police manual’ is it correct to have policemen dressed as priests? Those who give such orders should be suspended. If tomorrow any thug takes advantage of this and loots the innocent public, then what will the UP government and administration answer? Condemnable,” his X post, roughly translated from Hindi, read.
Varanasi Police Commissioner Mohit Aggarwal stated in an interview that initiative has been taken to assist devotees in getting darshan during their visit to the temple, in addition to managing large crowd of worshippers.
“Devotees from various parts of the country visit the temple every day. We want them to go back with a positive feeling and achieve a sense of fulfilment regarding their visit. However, as the crowd is also extreme on a daily basis, we need to ensure that it keeps moving so that everyone can have a good glance at the deity,” he told.
According to Mohit Aggarwal, it’s common for devotees to complain about mistreatment they’ve received from police, which makes them feel bad about themselves when they leave the temple. “During their visits to the shrine, devotees frequently complain about police officers shoving them. Nonetheless, the Varanasi Police Commissioner elucidated the rationale behind the move, saying “They readily listen to priests because they feel warm and respected toward them.”
According to Mohit Aggarwal, ‘no-touch policy’ would be adhered by police personnel masquerading as priests, ensuring that devotees have no complaints about shoving or other sorts of mistreatment. There are also male and female police officers dressed in uniform, however they are not within the Kashi Vishwanath Temple’s inner chamber. Their main duty is to make sure the crowd continues to move.
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