Women activists object to Allahabad High Court "uncritically" justifying anti-Romeo squads' "job", moral discipline

By A Representative
Women’s activists, in a joint statement, have taken strong exception to the Allahabad High Court judgment dated March, 2017, which, they say, “uncritically legitimizes” UP’s controversial anti-Romeo squads on the basis of the state DGP’s guidelines.
If the DGP said women policemen in plainclothes would be “posted to help the anti-Romeo squads” so that they could get “correct information” about what is objectionable, the Allahabad High Court justifies the state government saying, “the time has come when they also have to rise to the occasion to act in the aid of the Constitution by educating and informing their children to observe moral discipline”.
Comments women’s activists’ statement, the “rather benign resolve” would only encourage certain “citizen’s groups to “begin moral policing and form vigilante groups in the name of disciplining children.”
“We would like this rectified by the court”, the statement insists, adding, “The court instead could have asked the state government to present a grievance redressal mechanism both for instances of sexual harassment of women and excesses committed by the ‘preventive mechanism called anti-romeo squads’.”
Among those who have endorsed the statement include Aruna Roy, President National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW); Syeda Hameed, Muslim Women’s Forum; Indira Jaising, prominent lawyer and human rights activist; Uma Chakravarti, feminist historian; Kavita Srivastava, feminist activist with the People’s Union for Civil Liberties; Vrinda Grover, senior advocate and human rights activist; Kavita Krishnan, general secretary, All India Progressive Women's Association; and Shabnam Hashmi, convener, Anhad.
Calling anti-Romeo squads “policemen and women and vigilante groups, operating outside the purview of law, with the support of the UP government, the statement says, they “threaten women’s freedoms.”
“The serious issue of violence against women and routine sexual harassment of women in Uttar Pradesh cannot be addressed by setting up anti-Romeo squads”, the statement says, adding, “These squads impose their own aggressive and arbitrary code through moral policing.”
The statement further says, “It has already come to light that in many cases, these anti-Romeo squads have become an even greater source of harassment and fear for women and men, which has even been acknowledged by the DG Police UP in his order of March 22 and 25, 2017.”
“However”, the statement underlines, “the DGPs order of the March 22 also opens up the doorway for moral policing as it talks of leaving alone couples in public spaces if their conduct is well within the traditional code. The term traditional code is ambiguous and not defined which once again allows police and public interference into the people’s privacy and the excesses thereof.”
Disapproving this form of policing, including its outsourcing to private actors in some cases, the statement adds, “We are clear that maintaining law and order is the primary function of the State and nothing can be done contrary to law, while addressing the issue of women's safety.”
Simultaneously, the statement says, it is deeply disturbing that “a tweet by well-known Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan has led to vigilantes attacking his home and the police registering a FIR against him, under Sec. 153A and 295A IPC, in P.S. Hazaratganj, Lucknow.”
“As feminists, our viewpoint on the subject of the tweet is different from that of Advocate Prashant Bhushan.”, the statement says, though adding, “The FIR registered against Bhushan is a clear case of abuse of power, as no such offence is made out on the basis of the tweet in question.”

Comments

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey* Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.

Covishield controversy: How India ignored a warning voice during the pandemic

Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD * It is a matter of pride for us that a person of Indian origin, presently Director of National Institute of Health, USA, is poised to take over one of the most powerful roles in public health. Professor Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian origin physician and a health economist, from Stanford University, USA, will be assuming the appointment of acting head of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. Bhattacharya would be leading two apex institutions in the field of public health which not only shape American health policies but act as bellwether globally.

The 'glass cliff' at Galgotias: How a university’s AI crisis became a gendered blame game

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These were the words used in the official press release by Galgotias University following the controversy at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The statement came across as defensive, petty, and deeply insensitive.

Growth without justice: The politics of wealth and the economics of hunger

By Vikas Meshram* In modern history, few periods have displayed such a grotesque and contradictory picture of wealth as the present. On one side, a handful of individuals accumulate in a single year more wealth than the annual income of entire nations. On the other, nearly every fourth person in the world goes to bed hungry or half-fed.

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

By Rajiv Shah A recent book, " Luminous Footprints: The Christian Impact on India ", authored by two Jesuit scholars, Dr. Lancy Lobo and Dr. Denzil Fernandes , seeks to counter the current dominant narrative on Indian Christians , which equates evangelisation with conversion, and education, health and the social services provided by Christians as meant to lure -- even force -- vulnerable sections into Christianity.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

Development at what cost? The budget's blind spot for the environment

By Raj Kumar Sinha* The historical ills in the relationship between capital and the environment have now manifested in areas commonly referred to as the "environmental crisis." This includes global warming, the destruction of the ozone layer, the devastation of tropical forests, mass mortality of fish, species extinction, loss of biodiversity, poison seeping into the atmosphere and food, desertification, shrinking water supplies, lack of clean water, and radioactive pollution.

Big promises, limited delivery? Rekha Gupta's first year as Delhi CM

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* Delhi has witnessed women at the helm before, each leaving behind a distinct political and administrative imprint on the national capital. From diplomacy to development, the city's past female chief ministers shaped governance in their own ways. As Rekha Gupta completes one year in office, the question arises: has her tenure lived up to her ambitious promises? After her first year, Gupta appears to have made tall claims but delivered little since taking the oath of office. Despite coming from a background in student politics, her report card as Delhi chief minister is far from impressive. She seems to understand the nuances of politics, yet she is often seen generating considerable buzz without substantial delivery on the ground.

Search This Blog