The police in Rajasthan’s Alwar district ordered nine Muslim members of the force to shave their beards, only to withdraw its instructions a day later.
The original order on Thursday said the nine policemen were asked to cut their beards so that they acted and ‘looked unbiased,’ PTI reported.
The nine policemen were belong to Rajasthan’s Mev Muslim community.
As the criticsms against police action spread across social media, Alwar Superintendent of Police Anil Paris Deshmukh withdrew his own order on Friday.
“Policemen should not only work in an unbiased manner but they should also look unbiased,” Deshmukh initially told media.
“Law and order duties of the police require that policemen should not just be impartial, they should also look impartial. The basic aim behind this order is that it aims to enhance all forms of impartiality during functioning,” earlier he told reporters.
There are harsh criticisms in the Mev community against the discriminative action.
“This is an absurd and biased order. It has hurt our religious sentiments. Article 25 of the Constitution says that a person can maintain his religious identity if he performs his duty properly,” Sher Mohammad, head of Mev panchayat told Free Press Journal.
