"Like Ernest Hemingway's bankruptcy, the ruin of the Uttar Pradesh Police happened "gradually, then suddenly.' The latest sign of the sudden and sharp collapse was the deployment of uniformed members of the state police in Hindu priestly attire in the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. The eight policemen posted inside the temple are in red dhoti-kurta, sporting a white gamchha printed with images of the kalash and the swastika. They have rudraksh malas around their necks and tilaks on their forehead. Their four female colleagues are in orange salwar-kurta and dupattas printed with salutations to Shiva.
"This has to be a first in India's history, and perhaps a first in a modern, democratic republic anywhere in the world," writes Sushant Singh.