Fall in love and risk a police thrashing
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Outrage and protests mounted in India Wednesday after TV channels showed police officers repeatedly slapping, punching and pulling the hair of young women on a date in a public park in a north Indian city. Indian media reported one couple was so humiliated by the police action in front of TV crews they have not returned home. "Is falling in love wrong? Who gave the police the right to beat and hit people and misbehave in such a manner," a woman in Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh state told Aaj Tak television news.
Ref. https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051221/od_nm/india_dating_dc
QUOTE (From News Report) |
Young couples in cities often meet in parks as dating before marriage is frowned upon by many Indian parents but they are harassed by police who threaten to report them or ask for bribes. |
QUOTE (From News Report) |
Some defended the right of young people to date in parks. "Nobody should be allowed to bother them as long as they are not indulging in obscene acts," local lawmaker S.P. Agarwal said. |
There is a very well-known adage about India: "If there is one thing you can say about the country, the opposite is allways true as well."
I'll leave it at that.
I lived for most of my life in the most socially conservative city in India but young people went out on dates and nobody ever lifted a finger. It's not that the society isn't permissible, it's that nobody cares too much about anything.
I've gone out with my boyfriend and have known many other couples who did whatever they fancied without anyone ever questioning them.
I read this article and it raised my hackes too.
There was quite an uproar about it in India and I beleive some police officers got suspended for it.
I don't take any offense, but claiming that India is a "primitive" society because of one of some incidents would be akin to someone in India saying that America is "primitive" because someone called Rodney King got beaten up because of the color of his skin or any incident like that.
It's myopic to consider an occurance as representative of the nation or it's culture as a whole, and I say this with all affection and respect.
Edited: Eshun on 26th Feb, 2006 - 3:08am
QUOTE (Eshun) |
It's myopic to consider an occurance as representative of the nation or it's culture as a whole, and I say this with all affection and respect. |
Actually India is quite liberal when it comes to showing signs of public affection when you compare it to other nations in the region. A lot of countries that impose Sharia law forbid signs of public affection. That to me is ridiculous.
Name: RISHU
Comments: Okay "hai agar dushman jamana gam nahi koi aye hum kisi se kam nahi" if in love we get beaten up we are not scared love is not a crime mind it or not and after all why they cant concentrate on roads where a lot of other incidents are taking place why aer they coming between us, park is for us not for them.
India is culture bound, by that I mean you will see a small minority that looks to the US and Hollywood for guidance, but the majority and we are talking about hundreds of millions of people are staunch followers of traditional values. The youth of India are feeling the chains of tradition in such aspects as love. Look at a Bollywood love flick and you will see... a lot of the stories are centered around love and the families wishes for their son or daughter to marry 'that certain person'.