Home Minister Lands in a Soup After Publicly Slapping a Constable

HYDERABAD: Home Minister Mohd Mahmood Ali on Friday landed in trouble for slapping his personnel security officer (PSO) Ramu Naik, who belongs to the Scheduled Tribes community, at a public meeting for a delay in handing over a bouquet at a function.

Ramu Naik is a constable with the Intelligence Security Wing (ISW). The video of his slapping the PSO went viral on social media.

It was a function marking the launch of the Chief Minister's breakfast programme by minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, who, incidentally, also celebrated his birthday on the occasion, at a government school at Ameerpet.

While the announcer was inviting the home minister and stating that he was a well-mannered gentleman, he asked his PSO to get a bouquet for the birthday boy.

When there appeared to be a slight delay, Ali expressed his frustration and slapped his PSO in front of hundreds of students and senior officers. Srinivas Yadav tried to calm down his Cabinet colleague.   

Mahmood Ali’s behaviour drew spontaneous criticism. The video was also widely circulated among IPS and police officers groups on WhatsApp. However, the Hyderabad Police Officers Association failed to condemn or react to the incident.

When approached, association president Shanker Reddy refused to talk about the incident. Members of the association, who tend to condemn any allegations against the police, remained quiet even after their boss (home minister) had slapped a constable in a public meeting.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Bakka Judson lodged a complaint with SR Nagar police seeking action against the minister for slapping the constable.

Congress MLA D. Seetakka lashed out at Mahmood Ali and went to the Secretariat to bring the issue to the notice of the chief secretary and other senior officers. However, the security staff did not allow the MLA inside the Secretariat stating that the Chief Secretary was not available.

Nizamabad MP D. Arvind condemned the incident and said, “leadership should be built on respect and decorum. This behaviour is unacceptable and sets a poor example.

In June, Mahmood Ali had got into trouble after saying that women wearing short clothes could cause trouble.

"If skimpy, European-style clothes are worn, it can result in situation going out of hand. There are Islamic dresses or what our Hindu sisters wear, who wrap the pallu over their heads. Women, especially when wearing skimpy clothes, can create problems. If fully clothed, such situation can be averted," he had said while replying to a media query on an incident where some Muslim students were asked to remove their burqas at an examination centre at IS Sadan, Santoshnagar.