GORAKHPUR: A police officer in eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur town was photographed seeking blessings from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, also the head priest of the influential Gorakhnath temple in the town, yesterday – in uniform.
A series of photographs on Facebook, shared by police officer Praveen Kumar Singh himself, shows him kneeling down in front of the Chief Minister with folded hands.In another photograph, the officer can be seen applying a tilak on Adityanath’s forehead. A third photograph shows the police officer garlanding the Chief Minister.
Praveen Kumar Singh is the circle officer of Gorakhnath area in Gorakhpur and has several police stations in the vicinity under his charge. In his Facebook post, the police officer said he was seeking the blessings of Yogi Adityanath, 46, on the occasion of Guru Purnima, not in the chief minister’s capacity but as the head of the Gorakhnath temple.
The officer’s Facebook check-in and photos were accompanied by a “feeling blessed” status and emoticon.
But the officer’s act has triggered a debate on social media, with many asking if he should have done this in uniform.
Is this allowed for men in Uniform? 🤔#GuruPurnima pic.twitter.com/n5ZlHxfM2q
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) July 27, 2018
Other reactions on Facebook and Twitter include those who say there is nothing wrong with this, pointing out that other police officers from different faiths also undertake religious activities while in uniform and that the officer could not have changed clothes just for a five-minute interaction with Yogi Adityanath.
I don’t think it should be anyone’s concern, until unless he is biased in his duty, we are in a country where each government program start by lighting a lamp in Hindu rituals and so forth… what’s big deal?!
— Mubashir (@rubusmubu) July 27, 2018
Earlier this week, a Delhi Police officer seen taking the “blessings” of a self-styled godwoman was transferred to an insignificant post. In the photo, the officer is in his uniform, his eyes shut as the saffron-robed Namita Acharya, who calls herself a sadhvi, is seen standing behind him in a gesture of blessing. The photo appears to have been taken in his office.
Courtesy: NDTV