Moral Policing – A threat for personal freedom?

TechnoparkToday.com>> October 28, 2014:  The other day the newspapers and the TV channels flashed with the story of Kozhikode café being ransacked on the claims of “immoral activities”. Morality has always been a very controversial concept since the conceptualization of democracy in our country. Who defines Morality? This question still remains unanswered in our so called secular country freed from shackles of British rule, 67 odd years ago.

I am not very well versed with IPC acts regarding moral policing but the least I know as an Indian citizen living in this free country is that as long as a person refrains from doing anything obscene, causing inconvenience to the people on a public place, no law or act can reprimand or detain him or her. And talking to a male friend or a colleague, travelling with him on a bike to home after late office hours or having a coffee at a coffee shop does not fall into the category of Act 292. But then we have certain set of people in our society who take the law in their hands and barge into people’s privacy and scream “Save Indian Culture”

Since childhood we have been taught that India is a secular country which respects every religion, every diversity, nobody as in NOBODY has the right to question your modesty and the integrity of your character without your will.  Even if someone is causing a disturbance or embarrassment to the society by his/her PDA, then there is a way to deal with a situation like that (informing the Police) instead of harassing the person physically and emotionally. No common man has the right to curb the freedoms and the choices of another common man in this free country.

But then every now and then we hear stories of pubs being attacked, couples being detained in police stations, lathicharge on people celebrating Valentine’s Day, which forces us to wonder; Are we really a free nation?  Is there nobody out there to take action against such extrimist ideologists who call themselves the Savior of the magnificent Indian culture by doing such uncultured acts and harming the very same Indian Culture?

Well the recent incident of Kozhikode does leave us with many unanswered questions on our hard earned freedom. Let’s just hope that the higher authorities take a leaf from the unfortunate incident and make the change happen and not let the God’s Own Country become a Devil’s Own Country!!

Aparna Nair

The author is an employee of Technopark and has penned the book ‘Kabhi Love Bites Kabhi Love Bytes’