A reel uploaded on social media accounts by four female security guards posted at the Ram Janmbhoomi in Ayodhya has caused them to be line hazir (summoned at the police lines).
In the reel, two guards are sitting on chairs- one dressed in trousers and a jacket, and the other in a salwar kameez, with both their faces covered with black cloth masks. They are seen blowing kisses in the direction of a third guard who is dressed in black trousers, a white shirt and a blue jacket. This third lady is unmasked and an identity badge hangs from her neck-- though the badge itself has been tucked inside the shirt.
The guard is dancing to a song that goes- ‘patli kamariya meri hai, hai….tirchi kamariya meri hai, hai’ (loosely translated as: oh, oh my slim waist, my sidelong glances ). The original version is a Tharu song from Nepal released two years ago with some 7.9 million views on YouTube.
The barely 10-second video was reportedly shot by a fourth guard.
The guards were on duty at the VIP entrance.
Muniraj G, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Ayodhya said, “A video has been brought to our notice in which the guards exhibit indiscipline…on their duty points they were entertaining themselves. They did not have the seriousness required while on duty. This will be investigated and they might even be suspended”.
Line hazir means that for now, the police women will only perform routine work and not be allowed to undertake any tasks related to law and order, or investigation.
Opinion on their fate is divided. One senior police officer, unwilling to be named, said that it appeared that the video was shot in an enclosed place when they were on a break and suspension will be too strong a punishment for them.
Another said that they had offended the sacredness of the Ram Janmbhoomi and thus deserved to be brought to task. “The lyrics of the song in question are bawdy and have no place at this most sacred place”, he said.