When a group of lawyers, protesting against an FIR accusing them of making objectionable comments against Dr B R Ambedkar, tried to hold a Sunderkand recital at a local temple without permission, Gwalior City Superintendent of Police Hina Khan and her team were sent to handle the situation on Monday evening.
Khan calmly informed them that any assembly was barred under the prohibitory orders in place, but the group turned confrontational. In an apparent bid to intimidate the officer, the group, headed by lawyer Anil Mishra, began raising slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
Instead of retreating, Khan did something that stunned them into silence – she joined in. “Jai Shri Ram,” she said four times, her fist raised, before asking “Aur kuch (anything else)?” As some in the crowd tried to argue, she said, “If you raise the slogan, so will I. But if you do it to put pressure, that is wrong.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Khan said on Wednesday: “When I raised Jai Shri Ram slogans, I did not think much about it. It was a feeling from my heart. Both of us had the same feeling, and I decided to show that. My first aim was to completely defuse the situation, and communication is key. If those who were protesting become aggressive, then the situation gets out of control. Whatever I did, I did to maintain law and order and bring peace.”
When a group of lawyers, protesting against an FIR accusing them of making objectionable comments against Dr B R Ambedkar, tried to hold a Sunderkand recital at a local temple without permission, Gwalior City Superintendent of Police Hina Khan and her team were sent to handle the… pic.twitter.com/kbnwxaxJp6
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) October 15, 2025
Gwalior Superintendent of Police Dharmaveer Yadav told The Indian Express: “We managed to defuse the situation with a lot of hard work. We managed with the help of our local police and also the cooperation of civil society members. The people of Gwalior do not stand for this. The civil society has come together to put an end to this.”
The confrontation was the culmination of simmering tensions in Gwalior over the installation of an Ambedkar statue on the premises of the Gwalior Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court. An FIR had been registered against several lawyers for making objectionable comments about Ambedkar while opposing the statue’s installation.
Mishra did not respond to the allegations.
In protest, the lawyers decided to organise a Sundarkand paath, a reading of a chapter from the Ramayana, at a local temple. Instead of coordinating with temple authorities, they announced it as a form of protest, allegedly without obtaining the mandatory permissions from district authorities.
“There is a controversy over erecting a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar inside the Gwalior High Court premises. An FIR was registered against those who had opposed the installation. They had decided to protest this by taking part in a local Sundarkand recital at a temple. They should have done this with the temple authorities, but they decided to protest through the Sundarkand. There was no permission for this from the Collector,” Khan said. “We would have allowed them to protest if they had the proper permissions from the district authorities.”
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“I had the full support of my team. I knew they had my back, and till now, nothing has happened to me; everything has gone smoothly. When I have a team backing me, I have no fear,” she said.
Born and raised in the state’s Guna district, Khan comes from a modest background. Her father is a retired government teacher, and her mother is a homemaker. After graduating in physiotherapy, she worked as an Assistant Commercial Tax Officer in the GST department, but found herself drawn to a different calling.
“I wanted to serve the public more directly. That’s why I started preparing for the civil services. In 2016, I cleared the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission exam,” Khan said. She joined the police force in 2018, with her first posting in Jabalpur before being transferred to Gwalior as City Superintendent of Police.
Family remains her greatest source of strength. “I have a younger brother and two sisters, who are all lawyers. My father wanted me to become a police officer, as my grandfather was in the Army. So I decided to join the police force,” she said.
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Despite the demanding nature of her duties, Khan maintains a work-life balance. “I love reading. These days, I am very fond of watching web series. I enjoy series that have strong characters and good storytelling,” she said. Her love for music runs deep. “I love old qawwalis and Lata Mangeshkar’s songs.”
