Police withdraw order on blue turban

Chandigarh : The state police today withdrew its December 31 order regarding changes in the headgear saying some officers had misinterpreted the order.
Following a report in The Tribune today on alleged “Akalisation” of the police headgear after the removal of red tassels, the DGP today said the tassels on the turban would stay.Blue is the political colour of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal. With policemen wearing only plain blue turban, an impression was made that the Akali leadership had “tweaked” the police rules.Official sources claimed some officers had misinterpreted the previous order by asking policemen to remove the tassels and the red colour and wear only plain blue turbans.“The orders were to remove only the tassels and not the red colour. Since the tassels were pinned on the red part of the turban, officials thought the colour too has to go,” a senior officer said.The tassels were ordered to be removed after Amritsar-based historian Surinder Kocchhar pointed out to Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal that even after 67 years of independence, constables and head constables had to sport a sign of British slavery”.