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Is Anti-Romeo Squad a licence to insult Sri Krishna?
Ever since BJP has achieved a sweeping victory in the held recently Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, political pundits with left leanings have been tying themselves in the knots to make sense of the scale of this gigantic victory.
Even before the shockwaves of this electoral victory subsided, the announcement of Yogi Adityanath as the UP chief minister came adding insult to injury. The firebrand leader lost no time in taking total control of UP - a state in utter chaos whose law enforcing apparatus was in shambles.
Yogi Adityanath set a record of taking close to 60 important decision even before taking oath much to the relief of those who had voted for BJP on the promise of development for all.
Riding high on the popularity wave, he decided to put an end to the menace of Eve teasing commonly prevalent across Uttar Pradesh. Young girls were fearful of stepping out of their houses in the broad daylight during the Yadav rule.
Mulayam Singh Yadav – the father of the then chief minister was known for making derogatory remarks when incidents of rapes took place under the nose of SP rule. Every sensible man and woman across India was shocked to hear such insensitive remarks from such a senior political leader. It was then that people of UP realised that their women’s safety was never on the agenda of those political parties for whom they had voted and they would have to wait for five years to punish such reckless leaders who termed incidents of rape as boys-will-be-boys phenomenon.
True to his promise Yogi Adityanath formed an anti Romeo squad comprising of policemen whose sole job is to round off anti-social elements and protect the honour of women so that they can move around freely on the roads of Uttar Pradesh.
It is indeed a noble cause. Anti Romeo squad is an out of box solution to combat the serious menace like Eve teasing. This initiative should be welcomed with open arms so that those who want to tease and stalk young girls in filmy style get a strong message that their days are over. That this is new and aspirational India that will tolerate no-nonsense from anyone.
Be that as it may, the fact remains that anti Romeo squad which has gone on to become hugely popular with the masses is earning the wrath of all those who are opposed to the Modi Sarkar from day one.
They cannot come to terms with the fact that a monk dressed in saffron robes who is one year younger to Rahul Gandhi and one year older to Akhilesh Yadav and whose name is Adityanath has begun to send shivers down the spines of anti social and anti national elements. He has successfully done what nobody could do in the Hindi heartland.
This is precisely why there is a smear campaign against anti Romeo squad which is seen as a blatant communal attempt to put the fear of God in the hearts of innocent young boys who are out to have a good time with their friends from opposite sex. There is no rhyme and reason to this faulty thought process. These people cannot digest the fact that a deeply religious man who wears his emotions on his sleeves is leaving no stone unturned to make his state safe for the women who have been at the receiving end for decades.
The argument starts from the name anti Romeo squad. Why Romeo? Why not some other name? Why not anti Heer squad instead? They know very well that the boys who tease girls on roadsides are commonly known as Romeos across India. The name Romeo transcends all barriers related to the castes and communities. Those who find something communal in the name Romeo – a euphemism for boys indulging in Eve teasing – need to get their heads examined. What else is doing the rounds on social media are certain nasty tweets invoking the Lord Krishan who is one of the main deities in the Hindu mythology and who is worshipped in North India with vehement fervour. Lord Krishna was always surrounded by Gopis with whom he danced and played games.
The roadside Romeos who need police intervention to restore their sanity are being compared with the Lord Krishna who according to these left liberals was an eve teaser by his virtue of being with Gopis all the time. Can there be anything more desperate than this? Those who cannot digest the saffron rise are making every attempt to saffronise the political discourse while accusing BJP for shrinking the space for either dissent or dissenting views. When a learned man like Prashant Bhushan insults the Lord Krishna to score political points vis-à-vis anti Romeo squad, one knows that left liberals reeling under heavy electoral defeats are throwing spanners in the tasks of nation building through development for all.
Poor political pundits don't realise that India under Narendra Modi has changed. The generation that has reposed its faith in the leadership of Narendra Modi is right to raise questions like when people are jailed for hurting religious sentiments of Muslims, why is there no outrage? That's normal because nobody wants or should offend religious sentiments of minorities. Why should there be a different set of rules for those who hurt religious sentiments of Hindus and insult their gods? Why is there no outrage? Don't Hindus deserve to live with honour and dignity in the country of their own origins? And when there are serious issues like global warming, Jihadi terrorism, population explosion, poverty and hunger and not to mention electricity, road and water, does something like anti Romeo squad which has got its heart in the right place deserve so much of attention? There is really some food for thought.
(Irfan Iqbal Gheta is a blogger. He tweets at @_gheta)
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