Indore police turn to religious leaders to quit tobacco, liquor

Having tried professional motivational speakers, hypnosis experts, yoga gurus, the Indore police has now turned to religious leaders to find clues to relaxation, motivation and self-improvement.

Having tried professional motivational speakers, hypnosis experts, yoga gurus, the Indore police has now turned to religious leaders to find clues to relaxation, motivation and self-improvement.

Billed as 'Sant-Sipahi Samagam', the top bosses of the police department have roped in two Shwetamber Jain saints — Lalit Prabh Ji and Chandra Prabh Ji — for the lecture at Indore basketball complex.

The contrast could not have been starker — essentially preachers of the cult of non-violence trying to reach out to a force that is mainly based on violence. But the hall was packed with policemen and senior officials including two SPs Abid Khan and OP Tripathi and DIG Rakesh Gupta.

The saints talked about the evils of tobacco consumption and even ridiculed the 'standard' of the cops, when a sub-inspector could not give the spelling of the word 'church', much to the discomfiture of the senior officials present there. But, was the two-hour session of any use? The rank and file was non-committal by saying that being a disciplined forced, they went to the lecture as they had been directed by the seniors.

Even the senior officers were wary of coming on record when asked whether they planned to have religious discourses from other religious leaders.

Abid Khan, SP (West), said he would not comment over the issue of organising samagams of other religion’s clerics. Similarly, OP Tripathi also refused to comment, saying: "You better ask the senior officer who had oraginsed this," he added.

IG Vipin Maheshwari said the main aim behind the lecture was to end the twin evils of tobacco and liquor and it had nothing to do with any religion. When asked whether they would entertain if other religious leaders offer to hold similar 'samagam', the reply was: "Why not?"