Are public expressions of human emotions and good time spent with friends against Indian culture and morality? Who should police our morals? The Teenager finds out.

Tamanna Roy is a 20-year-old final year degree student at one of Bangalore's reputed colleges. She lives with her friends in the college hostel, loves the good things in life - friends, movies, parties and shopping. But ever since she heard and saw the way girls and women in a Mangalore pub were attacked, beaten up and molested by hoodlums - representing the lunatic Shri Rama Sene headed by Pramod Muthalik-masquerading as culture and moral police, Tamanna is angry. She is livid. "Who has given these thugs the right to raise their hands on these girls? What Indian culture are they talking about? Abusing girls, is that part of the Indian culture?" asks Tamanna in desperation.

It is this same anger, shock and desperation that you get in response from teenagers and youth across the country if you ask them about the Mangalore incident, which the union minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury calls the "Talibanisation of India". Unfortunately, the minister and her government have done nothing beyond that description.

Amita Lobo, a 20-year-old final year degree student from Mumbai, says she was shocked to hear about the Mangalore incident. She finds the entire thing disgusting and politically motivated. "Don't be hypocritical in defining what is Indian culture and what is Western culture. They choose what is convenient to them. And how can these goons lay their hands on these innocent girls," says Amita who frequently goes out for parties with her friends.

Today everyone in his or her right senses asks: who decides what is Indian culture? A boy and a girl holding hands in public - is that against Indian ethos? Consenting adults hugging each other and sharing a kiss in public to express their love - does that violate morality? How can hate brigades and lumpen vigilantes, like the Muthalik's Shri Rama Sene, impose their will on others?

"To enjoy and have fun with friends and family which may mean going to a pub, having a drink, eating at restaurants, watching a movie, are all completely an individual choice. And in the case of a teenager it could be a choice taken between the teenager and his or her parents," says 24-year-old Anjali Lobo, a human resources professional working with a financial services company in Mumbai.

Unfortunately these are not some isolated incidents taking place in the metropolitan cities of India. The frequency of such events, the spread of the moral policing to smaller cities and towns and the tacit political support to these outrageous criminal forces is alarming and of grave concern. And there is total lack of political will to stop this.

"I cannot understand why chief ministers and political leaders have a problem with a girl and a boy holding hands? They don't seem to have such a problem when the same hand raises itself in violence rather than affection," writes filmmaker Shekhar Kapur in his blog. Kapur terms the Mangalore incident and several other such incidents as sheer cowardice.

"If one's perception of good and bad is on shaky grounds and the ideas of morals and culture are rigid, you have an intolerant individual on the loose. Add to that the brainwashing by a political party with vested interests and you have a fanatic in the making. Society suffers at the hands of such individuals," says Nandini Sardesai, sociologist and member of the Censor Board.

Why moral policing During the recent attacks on girls in Mangalore, the attackers argued that girls should not go to the 'pubs' because it is against our Indian culture. Well, in that case "pubs" are not a part of our culture and hence why only girls, even boys should not go to the pubs. Is it only the responsibility of girls to protect and follow the Indian culture? If something is wrong for girls it is wrong for boys as well. It is ridiculous to say that a young boy consuming alcohol or doing whatever is done in the pub is fine but is wrong if done by a girl. However, there is another side to this entire incident, and that is the reaction of the media and the youngsters and some of the politicians as well. Instead of condemning the violence against girls and taking appropriate actions, the reaction was, let's go to the pubs in large numbers. The kind of mindset being encouraged through pub bharo andolan and pink chaddi andolan, can be dangerous in the long run. The message getting to the public, especially to the youngsters, is that it is your right to go to the pubs; you must go to the pubs because it is now become a symbol of rights and freedom, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. One cannot deny the fact that the pubs are also responsible for the spread of drug-mafia and sex-mafia in different parts of the country. Have we given a thought to the vices that our youth are exposed to when they visit the pub? So if we are condemning the attacks on girls then we should also be careful while calling it moral policing. Because the message sent through these protests is that moral policing is wrong and it should not be tolerated. We must remember that morals can not be wrong. The need for policing arises when something immoral is happening. It is a wrong tendency to criticize every objection against absolute freedom, or abuse of freedom, as moral policing. We need morals. With out morals we will only produce an immoral generation, which will ensure the end of our rich cultural heritage, our family values, ethics, and principles. At the same time we must protest against unmindful violence in the name of culture preservation and morals. Nobody has any right to raise one's hand on the other to protect our culture, because violence is also not our culture. But please do not call it moral policing, and trivialize it because our morals are also against violence. — Pratiba Naitthani Professor, St Xavier's College, Mumbai