They haul to protect the veiled,
Or are they imposing right-wing moralism,
Or is it just an administrative error?
First comes a misguided objective, then the political speculation but we accept sheer logic.
If Romeo is an eve teaser then Shakespeare was wicked and if not, then rapists and policemen need to be educated about ‘consent’. Thin lines are difficult to identify but the difference between molestation and romance is wide enough to go unnoticed. Romance is not a crime, but bliss in a hapless city, unless you have moralistic faulty learning patterns and just so you know, ignorance too is bliss. The police force is meant to enforce law, not impose self-acknowledged modesty.
Identification of ‘Romeos’ has been an issue. With police officers claiming signs from ‘bad hair styles’, or waiting outside an All girl’s college (irrespective of, you are waiting for your sister or girlfriend) to doing nothing (because you are anyway going to be collared). We have men and women in khaki wailing guidance patrol and moral policing. Though really, how do you identity a teaser or a molester? Well you don’t need to.
“Some women may be in consensual amorous situations. Since this is about protecting women, the simplest thing would be to ask the women what they need; to act on their complaints in a timely and efficient manner.”
– Paromita Vohra, documentary on Meerut’s Operation Majnu
The power to chastise and arrest only smells like terror. The visuals of undercover officers chasing after men and hitting them like local goons are hard to digest. Away from well-meaning neighbors, and the burden of preserving culture, a couple who enjoys anonymity will probably always be in the delusion of prosecution, and so will be a ‘could have been’ love story. However there is a natural death to everything that disturbs the natural state of affairs because who can stop two people in love?
“No sir, you cannot check my phone!”
– Shantam Sahai
