UP Police’s Cordial behaviour with the devotees during the Ram Utsav ceremony at Ayodhya

A Stellar performance by the UP Police

– Mr Nilesh Kulkarni, Special Correspondent, Daily Sanatan Prabhat

The Police department plays an important role in the security of big events. We all at some point would have experienced the rude behaviour of the Police towards devotees e.g, the use of abusive language, physically assaulting devotees, beating them up badly, etc. An exception to this experience was the historic Ram Utsav ceremony in Ayodhya on 22nd January 2024. Right from the very beginning, the Uttar Pradesh Police were very well-behaved with the devotees during the Ram Utsav, i.e. the Pranapratistha ceremony of Shriramlalla (the child form of Shriram). I could not believe this change in their behaviour and was pleasantly surprised !

1. The administration faced a substantial challenge in carrying out the security arrangements for the ceremony

Any Hindu celebration usually faces some or the other threats by religious fanatics. This being the grand ceremony of the Shriram Temple in Ayodhya, faced the biggest threat of them all from Jihadi terrorists. Just a few days before this ceremony, three people were arrested in Ayodhya for conspiring to attack the venue. Considering the huge crowd of devotees pouring in from all over the world, all kinds of security systems at the state and central levels were put in place. They faced a huge challenge in trying to pull off this historic ceremony in Ayodhya without any problems.

2. Performing their duty with patience and composure

The devotees coming to Ayodhya were diverse. The devotees cooperated with the Police, but there were definitely some exceptions. Some devotees were seen arguing with the Police, some were talking in a rude and dominating manner. However, the Police still maintained their composure and handled them very patiently. Even in such a crowded atmosphere, they tried to explain and resolve everyone’s doubts to the best of their abilities. This resilience shown by the Police was truly incredible !

3. Efforts to maintain a light-hearted atmosphere in such a stressful situation

The security arrangements for this ceremony were handled in a very different but efficient manner. Usually, the Police deal strongly with argumentative devotees, as managing a huge crowd adds to the pressure and makes the atmosphere very tense. Such tensions prevailed at almost every part of the Ayodhya temple premises. The Policemen who usually speak rudely in such circumstances were however trying to keep the atmosphere light-hearted by engaging the crowd in an amusing manner. The Police were taking great care as to not add to the troubles of the devotees. This greatly helped in reducing the frustration of the devotees. This helped the devotees warm up to the Police and they willingly cooperated. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the Police had such a good sense of humour befitting the situation. There were some rare cases of tension between the Police and the devotees due to some disagreements, but this was due to a lack of patience on the part of the devotees. It is, at times, necessary for the Police to be firm in dealing with unreasonable behaviour in order to maintain discipline. However, there has been no report of a single incident so far where the situation went out of control. This is probably the only ceremonial event of this gigantic scale that went smoothly without any untoward incident taking place.

4. Excellent conscientiousness

Even if the Policemen cracked jokes to keep the atmosphere light, they were steadfast in their duties. No matter how many requests were made by the devotees, no matter how many attempts were made to call up influential political contacts, no amount of aggression would make the Policemen budge. The Policemen strictly followed their orders of not allowing anyone inside the temple premises.

5. Five major points noted in the Uttar Pradesh Police’s style of working

Carrying out the responsibility of security for the Ram Utsav in Ayodhya was an uphill task. In an environment where anything can happen at any time, the Police followed the five principles given below.

Maintain a certain levelheadedness
Showing courtesy to devotees
Avoiding conflict
Exercising their assertiveness as necessary on occasions
Achieving one’s goal through sweet talks
Using the above principles, the Police effectively and successfully discharged their duties in taking care of the grand ceremony.

6. The ‘Uttar Pradesh model’ of security should be implemented across the country

The atmosphere gets ruined if there are clashes between the citizens and the Police during such grand ceremonies. Nothing comes out of it either. Conversely, it creates more thoughts of prejudice in the minds of the public about the Police. After looking at the security system in Ayodhya, the question arises as to why the Police in other parts of the country do not follow this system. If this were followed everywhere then, the stress on the Police would also be eliminated. In addition, the saying that ‘the Police are neither a friend nor an enemy’ will no longer be emphasised. The Uttar Pradesh State’s model of security has proved itself and should be implemented all over the country. The Police ensured that no untoward incidents occurred and did not allow any scope for questions to arise in this matter. The Uttar Pradesh Police conducted this whole ceremony admirably, setting a stellar example for others to follow and have definitely made their state proud.