Guwahati: Boxer and Tokyo Olympics medalist Lovlina Borgohain looked gorgeous in uniform on January 12 at the ceremony of her appointment as DSP of the Assam Police.
As Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta presented the rank of DSP to Lovlina Borgohain, a lot of people in Assam were inquisitive as to why Lovlina was wearing a narrower belt passing diagonally over her right shoulder at the ceremony.
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If you take a close look at Lovlina Borgohain’s uniform, you will also find she was wearing a belt passing diagonally over her right shoulder.
What is this belt Lovlina Borgohain was wearing? What is its name?
Yes, Lovlina Borgohain was wearing the Sam Browne belt. The belt, called the cross belt in police lexicon, was named after British army officer Sam Browne, who served in India in the 19th century.
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The Sam Browne belt, which Lovlina Borgohain was wearing, was introduced for police and Central Armed Police Forces officers under the Indian Police Service (Uniform) Rules, 1954.
General Sir Sam Browne V.C. was a 19th century British Indian Army officer who had lost his left arm to a sword cut during the Sepoy Rebellion.
Without the left hand, it made it difficult for him to draw his sword, because the left hand was typically used to steady the scabbard while the right drew out the sword.
General Browne had come up with the idea of wearing a second belt which went over his right shoulder to hold the scabbard steady. This would hook into a waist belt with D-rings for attaching accessories.
Soon other British Army officers started wearing a similar rig and eventually it became part of the standard uniform. And, during the Boer War, it was copied by other troops and eventually became standard issue.
In 2016, Central police and paramilitary forces finally decided to shed the colonial uniform accessory — the Sam Browne belt.
Though the central police and paramilitary forces in India stopped wearing the Sam Browne belt, state police forces still use the belt during ceremonial or martial events.
Since Lovlina Borgohain was attending the ceremonial event on January 12, she was seen wearing the Sam Browne belt.
Like Lovlina Borgohain, even sprinter Hima Das was also seen wearing the same Sam Browne belt when she had attended the ceremony of her appointment as a DSP of Assam Police.
Though Sam Browne belt is a colonial uniform accessory, Lovlina Borgohain looked really gorgeous in her Assam Police uniform.
And Lovlina Borgohain’s appointment as a DSP of Assam Police is definitely is the ‘biggest gift’ to her from the people of Assam.