Police and Park Benches

The incident in Meerut that happened on the afternoon of 20th Dec has now snowballed into something much larger than what the handful of police officers involved could ever have dreamed. The media has picked it up as a story that would be close to the hearts of over half of the country’s population – the youth. And as trivial as the episode may seem amongst matters of the country, it is representative of India’s underlying moral fiber even after the last two decades of so called evolution and development of our economy and thereby society.

The facts are simple – one winter afternoon the Meerut police decided to ‘raid’ Gandhi Park, which is the town’s biggest public park, and indiscriminately rounded up young couples sitting together. They then ruthlessly slapped around the boys and girls to allegedly drive home the point that it was improper for them to be sitting with each other in the park. To avoid the risk of being grossly misunderstood, I will clarify at the very onset that I do not consider myself qualified in any way to pronounce judgment on whether or not it is morally correct for young couples to hang out together on park benches. But I also don’t consider anyone else to be qualified to do it either. And that includes the state’s law enforcement agencies.

I take great pride in being an Indian. And I am not at all of the view that the Indian culture has become dusty and aged and needs radical change. My problem is with the fact that what we call our ‘Indian culture’ is grossly misinterpreted and misused to justify or perform many acts which have nothing whatsoever to do with the country’s culture in the first place. Whether or not I choose to sit and chat with a male friend in a public place does not and never will define my country’s culture!

I don’t have a problem if my father tells me not to go out with boys my age – that’s a family situation, rooted in familial values, to be solved by the family within the family. But I do have a problem when institutions of the state get into my house and start meddling into my business when they have no right or entitlement to do so. I have no idea what those young girls and boys were doing that afternoon in the park with each other. And honestly – I don’t care. But the images shown on TV of policewomen thrashing them around disturb me deeply and make me question not the moral maxims of Indian society but the competence of the Indian lawmakers.

For the last 15 years we have stood atop every rooftop and yelled to the world that India is on a whirlwind path to development, growth and progress. But a sizeable GDP growth rate, swelling foreign investments or increased share in the world market are not the sole indicators of advancement. What occurred in Meerut is a harsh reminder of how much needs to be altered before we can stake claim to that title of ‘development’.