Gulabi Chaddi Abhiyan

If what happened in Mangalore was disturbing, what is happening in its wake is strange. The first enquiry launched by the National Commission for Women, after making many agitated noises, shifted the blame on to the pub and set about checking its license, before a new inquiry was launched. Politicians, as usual, are making strange suggestions, While Ashok Gehlot of Congress, Chief Minister of Rajasthan says "that girls and boys holding hands is not proper", Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Choudhury is planning a 'pub-bharo' campaign.

Our problem is increasingly not that we are becoming more intolerant as a society, but that we are becoming more tolerant of symbolic intolerance. We tolerate publicity seeking non-entities too much, giving them way too much leeway in mounting these symbolic assaults on basic freedoms. We are afraid of giving them salutary punishment and end up creating monsters who gradually turn real. Here is a fringe group that carries out a one-off symbolic attack, purely to garner attention. It is not indicative of a mass movement, nor is accompanied by a larger attempt to curtail individual freedom. The fact that media cameras were on hand to record what happened, as indeed they always are in events of this kind, gives the intent away. Bhopal has witnessed many such shows over the years ,
specially on the Valentines Day (2007, 2008).

Most of the people here are not great fans of Valentine's Day. Nonetheless what we saw on Television was mind-numbing horror. It is widely believed that this so called "campaign" will intensify this week with Valentines Day approaching. With retired DIGs feeling "After drinking, boys lose their controls and can be doing anything to girls", and Shri Ram Sene going by the tried and tasted formula, it is time that some thing radical happens.

Check out this site (Facebook), and if any of you take up the challenge, do let the world know by posting some pictures or writing an article about your action.

Update: Chaddi de do, Sari le lo