Lucknow: Senior IPS officer of director general rank, Suryakumar Shukla, has stirred major controversy after a video of him taking an oath about the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya surfaced.
Currently DG, Homeguard, Shukla took the oath at a function organised by Muslim Karsewak Manch at Lucknow University.
In the video, the 1982 batch officer, dressed in a black suit, is shown to be taking the oath with Azam Khan, head of the Muslim Karsewak Manch, along with a few others and chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
The video went viral on social and electronic media on Friday.
"We Ram-bhakts, today, as part of this programme, take this pledge that at the earliest, the Ram Mandir be constructed. Jai Shri Ram," the video showed him saying.
Following this, the officer has come under criticism for participating in such an event. Spokesperson of the Congress state unit, Subodh Srivastava, said, “The officials who are responsible for maintaining law and order, are themselves spoiling the atmosphere. The IPS officer has violated the service rules. The current Yogi Adityanath government should take action against him."
Shukla, however, said he had done nothing wrong. "I was taking a pledge to create an atmosphere of harmony. The video that has gone viral is an edited version and portions have been deleted deliberately to create mischief," he told PTI.
"It is misinterpretation... The matter related more to creating a peaceful environment for the construction of the temple rather than construction itself," he added.
Hailing from Rae Bareli district of UP, Shukla is one of the senior most IPS officers in the state. His name has been doing rounds for the post of DGP of UP under the previous government of Akhilesh Yadav. This time too, Shukla was in the race this time as well but was not appointed.
(With PTI inputs)
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