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Anti-Romeo fever spreads to Uttarakhand: When will this foolishness end?

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DailyBiteMar 31, 2017 | 19:36

Anti-Romeo fever spreads to Uttarakhand: When will this foolishness end?

The anti-Romeo "scourge" is spreading. And after Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand seems to be the next (obvious) lab for right-wing moral policing.

In a latest incident, a couple was thrashed by a group of people in Kashipur. According to this Times Now report on Friday (March 31), the police were informed about the incident on Thursday, but no action has been taken against the assailants yet.

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The couple, as per sources, was meeting in a wheat field when a group decided to beat them up after they "found" the duo in "a compromising situation".

The report also says that incidents of moral policing in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have surged in the past one month.

Why Romeo must die

The moment Uttar Pradesh's newly anointed chief minister Yogi Adityanath unleashed his anti-Romeo squads in the state, moral policing assumed legality.

The constitution of anti-Romeo squads by the UP police was touted as a move to check harassment of young girls and women in the state. The squads mainly have police personnel stationed outside schools and colleges to "round up" suspected "Romeos" or eve-teasers. A number of policewomen in plain clothes too have been posted to help the squads.

However, soon complaints started to pour in about moral policing by these personnel. While policing means enforcing law and preventing crime, these teams allegedly started taking "moral" action in the name of protecting honour, culture and tradition.

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What are police supposed to do if not prevent crime and injustice?

Fringe groups with various affiliations too joined in to harass young men and women in the name of curbing eve-teasing in public places like malls, markets and parks.

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Numerous videos and accounts on social media in the past two weeks have raised concerns over the arbitrary action against unsuspecting youths. Following wide-spread criticism, the UP police chief, according to reports, has issued a letter to his force and set down some ground rules, which include "no hair shaving, blackening of face or murga position" during such drives.

The guidelines also say that no private individual or self-appointed groups should go around rounding up young couples or men sitting alone. “The squads will be screened and assessed by officials and briefed by senior policemen before set out each day,” DGP Javed Ahmed was quoted as saying.

Bordering on insanity

Notwithstanding the police's intentions, it not difficult to see the futility behind the urgency to constitute anti-Romeo squads in a state afflicted with grave economic and social problems — the entire police force now running after eve-teasers. Can it really afford to do so? Is there enough manpower in the police force to make separate teams and station them outside colleges and public places in pursuit of "Romeos".

Also, how will the police force save the people from being harassed by vigilante groups since they can easily claim to be police personnel in plain clothes? 

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The fact that the police and administration decided to go ahead with a name like that (anti-Romeo) itself has undermined the seriousness and gravity of the real problem — harassment of women. The entire police force has exposed its ignorance and misplaced notions about love and harassment against women — two completely different and unrelated emotions. If this is not insanity, then what is?

High moral pedestal

The anti-Romeo squads have now got the "approval" of the Allahabad High Court as well.

The high court on March 30 refused to accept that the act of the state amounted to "moral policing". The bench said that in fact it was "preventive policing".

The court observation came following a PIL against the anti-Romeo squads across the state. The petitioner had sought directions from the court that the state should not "commit excesses so as to invade the privacy of couples or adults who are suspiciously viewed by the police".

The bench essentially held that state action was constitutional, but directed the government and the police to ensure that they "abide by the prescribed law and guidelines".

While the state government's action, just like the court said, is constitutional, the irony of "preventive policing" cannot be ignored.

What are police supposed to do if not prevent crime and injustice? Perhaps we can also not ignore Bollywood's portrayal of the police — where cops reach the crime scene only when the villain and his villainy are tackled by the hero followed by a "happily ever after" ending.

Sadly, real life is much different from the reel, and not all police excesses go unnoticed.

Last updated: March 31, 2017 | 19:36
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