Anti-Romeo squads asked to avoid 'inhumane measures'

The Uttar Pradesh police was on Friday directed by the state government to ensure its anti-Romeo squads do not resort to blackening of the face or “murga” position type punishments in the name of protecting women.

The move by the government comes amid outrage over the way the squads have punished loitering men on the streets and a day after the Allahabad high court directed it to ensure that guidelines were followed by the police teams and action taken as per the law.

There should be no shaving of heads, blackening of faces or “murga pose” (a stress position used as a corporal punishment where sit-ups are done holding the ears), said a senior official while listing out the dos and don’ts.

The fresh guidelines were issued after the intervention of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath amid reports of alleged harassment by anti-Romeo squads.

The special squads of the UP Police were formed after the Bharatiya Janata Party government assumed office this month, fulfilling one of the pre-poll promises of the party.

The Allahabad high court’s Lucknow bench of justices Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Sanjay Harkauli had given its order on a PIL that alleged that police were not following the guidelines during the drive, aimed at checking eve-teasing, and it was harassing couples.

The chief minister has also directed administrative and police officials in districts to regularly review the steps being taken for women security and inform senior officials on a regular basis, the official said.

Stressing that his government was firm on upholding the security and dignity of women, he said a state-wide drive has been launched to free public places of anti-social elements and check incidents of eve-teasing, indecent behaviour and passing of lewd comments at women and girls.

The fresh directives were issued by the home department to identify those involved in misconduct at schools, colleges, bus stations, railway stations, malls and markets.

The government is also firm on checking unnecessary harassment of girls and boys merely in the name of curbing eve-teasing in public places like coffee shops, markets and parks.

The government has also made it clear that vigilantism of any sort in this regard will not be tolerated.

With visuals on TV suggesting harassment and humiliation of young couples by anti-Romeo squads at some places, Adityanath asked officials to ensure there was no “unnecessary harassment”.

The chief minister asked the Principal Secretary (Home) to chalk out clear guidelines for anti-Romeo squads and ensure there is no unnecessary harassment of boys and girls moving around or sitting at any place, an official release said.

Anti-Romeo squads, a poll promise of the BJP that pulled off a stunning victory in the recent assembly polls in UP, drew criticism from certain quarters after visuals of policemen targeting young boys and girls went viral on TV and in social media.

“The idea is to question, check group of boys or boys alone near colleges and other places, and create fear among potential harassers in public places,” said a police officer.

However, it was being dubbed as an attempt at moral policing and widely criticised in some quarters as the modus operandi was being compared to the infamous ‘Operation
Majnu’ in 2005, in which boys at crossings and markets were pulled up, and couples in gardens were thrashed by police.

The officer sought to clarify that the only job (of the anti-Romeo squads) was to ensure safety of women and to ensure that eve-teasing does not takes place.

“For this we will also take preventive steps like not permitting miscreants to loiter in public areas where women are known to frequent. I will not say it is moral policing,”
he said.

The chief minister, who holds the portfolio of the Home department, has also asked for effective steps in cases of acid attacks.

Adityanath has termed law and order as the top priority of his government and asked for daily reports from all district magistrates and superintendents of police on law and order.

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Concern in RS over crackdown over slaughterhouses in UP

Concern over the crackdown over slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh was expressed in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, with a Trinamool Congress member saying that due to the ‘arbitrary clampdown’, the livelihood of thousands of people had been affected.

The government however asserted that the action was being taken only against illegal slaughterhouses and the genuine ones will not be touched.

Raising the matter during the Zero Hour, Trinamool Congress member Nadimul Haque said that worrying reports were coming from Uttar Pradesh and other states like Jharkhand.

He said the action being taken against meat sellers appeared to be ‘one-sided’ and it has to be factored in that butchers generally belonged to the weaker sections of society who have been pursuing the profession for generations.

‘What food to eat and what to do for a living should not be dictated’ and if care is not taken, there was a danger of a ‘police state’ emerging, the TMC member said.

He said the ‘arbitrary clampdown’ was an affront to the right of the people to earn a living by following an occupation of their choice and added that 14 per cent of UP’s gross domestic product will be affected by this move.

After Haque expressed concern, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi assured the members that while the illegal slaughterhouses would not be spared, the genuine ones would not be touched.

He said the illegal abattoirs have had an adverse impact on the health of the people as also on the environment.

IMAGE: The Uttar Pradesh's anti-Romeo squad hauls up a young man in Lucknow. Photograph: PTI Photo