CPIM seeks action against senior MP cop for asking trainees to recite Ramcharitmanas

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has demanded action against a senior Madya Pradesh Police official for asking trainee police personnel to read the Ramcharitmanas to get over homesickness, claiming the directive hurts the secular spirit of the Constitution.

Additional director-general of police (training) Raja Babu Singh asked the police constable recruits to recite the 16th century epic poem on Lord Ram's life composed by Tulsidas, after receiving applications from some trainees seeking a seat in a training school closer to their homes.

Another official, however, clarified that the recital would not be compulsory.

In a statement in Bhopal on Saturday, CPI(M) state secretary Jaswinder Singh said the basic premise of the Constitution is that the state will be secular and all citizens will be equal in the eyes of the law. Not all trainee constables are Hindu, he said.

"For their narrow selfish interests like getting into the good books of BJP and RSS and post-retirement rehabilitation, many officers of the state are hurting the Constitution, the basic spirit of the Constitution: secularism and the spirit of law," the CPI(M) statement claimed.

India at a crossroads of religion vs democracy — still a ‘country of particular concern’

It was part of a conspiracy to carry forward the agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and communalise the police force, the party alleged, demanding that the director-general of police take action against the ADG.

ADG Singh on Wednesday launched a nine-month basic training course for about 4,000 recruits at eight police training schools. The 1994-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer said the trainees should learn from the life and virtues of Lord Ram.

He also said he had asked heads of all the police training schools that "they should try to collectively recite one or two chapters of Shri Ramcharitmanas daily before sleeping."

"Shri Ramcharitmanas is a treasure trove of wisdom, and it shows you a path of ideal value-based life," the ADG said.

A senior officer later said recruits from other religions will not be forced to take part in these Ramcharitmanas recital sessions and the exercise will be voluntary.