Author Srijato questions moral policing

KOLKATA: Is Kolkata getting regressive? Since Monday evening, that’s the debate which has fed on all of the nation after stories of ethical policing of a couple embracing each and every other in a Metro compartment was the speaking point. Even many among those that protested the moral policing insist that this must be handled as a stray incident. Most Kolkatans would like to believe that the city nonetheless doesn’t intervene with person possible choices.
As a mark of protest against the Metro incident, creator Srijato publish a photograph the place he is seen planting a peck on wife Durba’s cheek. Not identified to publicly display his feelings, Srijato’s submit stood out. “I did it to protest what had took place,” he mentioned.

Did he get trolled for doing so? Or was once the city satisfied that he had taken this step as a protest? “Some attempted to put ahead an argument that this isn’t in our tradition. But they were trolled badly on my Facebook wall. I personally didn’t even wish to react,” Srijato mentioned.

According to producer Mahendra Soni, who introduced the ‘Metrote Alingon’ campaign after Monday’s incident, the Metro tournament is no yardstick to decide if Kolkata’s ‘bhadralok’ veneer stands exposed. “We are repeatedly pushing the envelope on our digital platform. Youngsters are accepting it too,” Soni mentioned. However, reactions to reel and real life are steadily as different as chalk and cheese. People, who settle for stars smooching on the large display, might increase chilly ft if they saw a equivalent act at their neighbourhood park.

What more or less a reaction has Soni seen in real life to public display of affection? “As exhibitors, we own 10 screens across Bengal. It’s not unusual for children to be close when they're watching motion pictures. I haven’t ever come across any ethical police trying to be judgmental about this. The moderate aged other people in the town gained’t cross and bash up a couple within a theatre if they include each and every other,” Soni mentioned. That also explains why the web page with ‘Metrote Alingon’ campaign #hoyejak went viral within hours of its release. “We had 15,000 stocks of the campaign in eight hours,” Soni mentioned.

Riddhiman Dutta Roy, an Institute of Mathematics and Applications student who was once part of the Hok Alingon campaign in front of the Tollygunje Metro station on Wednesday, is apprehensive in regards to the growing intolerance in the town. “People do pass feedback however, I don’t assume a couple can get bashed up in Kolkata again for hugging in public. Monday’s incident, in that sense, was once an exception,” Dutta Roy mentioned.

Srijato has a becoming respond to Kolkata’s neo-critics who insist that the city is now subscribing to a tradition of impunity. “If Kolkata was once regressive, other people wouldn’t have batted an eyelid after the moral police went overboard. Having travelled across India or even abroad, I vouch for the fact that this town nonetheless keeps its cosmopolitan flavour. If two consenting adults hug each and every other in public, no person will disturb them in Kolkata. The Metro incident is an aberration and we will have to protest it,” Srijato mentioned.

Tumpa Mukherjee, assistant professor of Sociology at Women’s Christian College, remembered an incident she was once witness to on Tuesday afternoon. “My buddy and I saw a young couple walks down the Lake Avenue neighbourhood hugging each and every other. They walked in the course of the bylanes. There were many bystanders and no person gawked at them. I’ve been residing in south Kolkata for 35 years now. Stray incidents shouldn’t painting the city in a unfavorable gentle,” Mukherjee mentioned.