Plan for Krishna logo on tourist police uniform sparks row

AGRA: The Mathura police’s proposal for a logo with image of Lord Krishna on the uniform of tourist police has sparked a row with many dubbing the move as a step towards saffronisation of the force.

The first objection came from the state president for Rashtriya Lok Dal Dr Anil Chaudhary.

“BJP fought the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Mathura promising revival of the Yamuna, betterment of ghats, parikrama marg and better infrastructure for religious tourism in religious town of Mathura and Vrindavan. But instead of focusing on them, the government is going for saffronisation of the state police,” he said while raising doubts on the intention behind the move.

“Who can have objection on the mention of Krishna in Braj, but it would had been better if focus is on improving the condition of the region,” he said.

Refuting the charges, SSP Mathura Swapnil Mangain said the idea had been borrowed from tourism police of Agra, which used the logo of Taj Mahal.

“If our counterparts who manage Taj tourism can sport a

If our counterparts who manage Taj tourism can sport a logo with pictures of the monument on their uniform, what’s the harm in using a Lord Krishna logo on the uniforms of cops managing the pilgrims at temple SWAPNIL MANGAIN, SSP, Mathura

logo with pictures of the monument on their uniform, what’s the harm in using a Lord Krishna logo on the uniforms of cops managing the pilgrims at Bankey Behari temple,” said the SSP, who has forwarded a proposal to the range office for strengthening the police network in the twin religious towns of Mathura and Vrindavan.

“We have forwarded a tenpoint proposal, including the one for having a Krishna logo,” said Mangain while talking to Hindustan Times.

The proposal can be implemented only after clearance from the director general of police. Mainly, the SSP has demanded more police outposts for the tourist police in Mathura.

“In order to serve the devotees better we need more tourist police for Vrindavan which could have a uniform with a logo of Lord Bankey Behari, who is much revered here in the Braj region,” the SSP added.

Lord Krishna enjoys top deity status in Brij heartland and Bankey Behari temple is the most sought after spot there.

The state government has recently accorded the ‘places of pilgrimage’ status to Vrindavan and Barsana in Mathura and created Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad for development of land of Krishna.

“We have forwarded a proposed to strengthen the police network in Mathura and Vrindavan. We want two police stations and nine more police outposts in places such as Nandgaon, Gokul, Mahawan and Parikrama Marg. We want to create a post of SP protocol or circle officer (protocol) like the one in Agra,” said the SSP while insisting that priority was to ensure the safety and security of devotees, especially women.

“Amongst the 34 temples here, we have CCTV installed at only 14. We propose to have CCTV vigilance at others too,” he added.