CISF bans religious structures in training, residential campuses

NEW DELHI: The Central Industrial Security Force has banned construction of religion-specific structures within its training and residential campuses, saying such places of worship create confusion in the ranks and may pose a security threat.

A circular issued by the CISF headquarters earlier this month says increasing construction of religious structures inside campuses “creates confusion in the ranks and formations of the force and affects discipline and morale of the unit personnel”. “It has been decided that in the interest of the operational efficiency of the force, henceforth, no new religious structure will be constructed in the CISF campus,” said the circular issued by DIG (personnel) Shikha Goel on August 14.

The ban, however, does not cover construction of common prayer centres, said the note, which was reviewed by ET. CISF Director General Rajiv said the decision was in compliance with the government’s direction of not allowing unauthorised religious structures to come up on government-owned land.

“We have noticed that some temples or other religious structures have come up inside our campuses…we are disallowing the same in future as if someone wants to pray, they should do it at home,” Rajiv told ET on Wednesday.

The decision makes it the first paramilitary force to have taken such a view on religious structures, the majority of which are temples. In India, such places of worship are common at the campuses of most central paramilitary forces and the armed forces. The circular terms the existing structures as a threat to security.