Moral policing is a very predominant phenomenon in India. Be it the aunty ji from your neighbourhood or the highest state of government, they all enjoy judging and being the master of what is morally right and wrong. What most people fail to realise is that what might be morally wrong or indecent for you might be absolutely normal for someone else.
The beauty of living in a democracy is the freedom which comes with it. People should understand that everyone is different, especially when it comes to the moral aspect and nobody should be judged for that.
Here are 16 instances when people in India went absolutely bonkers and became the moral science teacher nobody needed:
1. A group of Hindu activists in Mangalore attacked an innocent party and manhandled the people accusing them of ‘indecency and violating culture’ in 2012
And what they did was brutal.
2. Pratidin Time , a local news channel in Assam, ran a video segment about how girls in Guwahati are wearing shorts these days and how that’s a sign of decadence
Here’s the video:
On being confronted, the news reporter had a view on ” Sobhyo ” culture:
3. August 8, Madh Island Raid: Mumbai Police raided hotels and dragged couples out of their private space in public, accusing them of ‘public indecency’
4. This Muslim schoolboy in Mangalore was beaten up because of being in a photo with the Hindu girls
According to The Newsminute , Riyaz, the school-kid said that he was blindfolded, taken to a secluded spot and beaten with wooden sticks, kicked on his genitals.
5. The fuss about Valentine’s day in India
Right-wing Shiv Sena workers threatened and beat up girls and boys ahead of Valentine’s Day. They also raided shops and burnt Valentine’s Day cards. Another group, Hindu Mahasabha threatened to marry off couples seen together on Valentine’s day.
6. Girls from Mangalore were suspended from college because a picture of them with wine and beer bottles went viral on WhatsApp
7. The Porn ban in India
The government ordered a ban against 857 porn websites in August 2015. It was seen as a downright act of moral policing all over the world.
8. In September 2005, a fatwa was issued against Sania Mirza because her attire on the tennis court and billboard advertisements were “un-Islamic”.
9. In 2013, a fatwa was issued against 3 girls from Jammu and Kashmir who had a rock band called Pragaash. The fatwa asked them to stop such immoral activities.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference said that western culture had no place in the Kashmir valley, and Dukhtaran-e-Millat also supported the fatwa . Later, the girls shut down the band.
10. In 2000, Rajnath Singh banned beauty contests in UP because they were “against the traditional culture and were vulgar”. This is what he said in an interview:
Reporter : In the absence of any law, how will you ban these shows? Rajnath Singh : You just watch, the organisers of such shows will just disappear.
(Taken from here )
11. Operation Majnu: Ghaziabad and Meerut Police raided public parks with media crew and attacked couples sitting in the park in 2011 and 2005, respectively.
12. In 2008, 22 customs officers were arrested from a party in Lonavla . They were allegedly “watching porn on a laptop and were undressed”.
The Mumbai High Court dropped the case stating that watching porn in a private residence is not an offence.
13. In 2005, Tamil actress Kushboo said that it was fine for girls to indulge in pre-marital sex on which v arious political parties took offence and protestors hurled eggs, rotten tomatoes and slippers at her car.
In April 2010, the Supreme Court of India dropped all 23 defamation cases against her.
14. In March 2015, local authorities in the Malda district of West Bengal cancelled a women’s football match because the local Muslim residents and maulvis objected to women playing sports.
15. On 24 January 2009, members of the Sri Ram Sena barged into the pub “Amnesia – The Lounge” in Mangalore and beat up a group of young women and men, because “women should not be drinking in a public place “
16. A man was shamed and stripped publicly for taking a woman of a different religion out for a drive in Mangalore, on Monday, August 24.
The woman escaped was also slapped for trying to come to the man’s defense.