A few days back, an incident sparked massive outrage in the state of West Bengal as well as in the country after photographs of a young couple being assaulted at Dumdum Metro Station went viral. Some elderly people can be seen trying to hit the man as the woman stands between them to shield her partner from the angry mob. Their crime was that they embraced each other in public.
One of the officials of Kolkata metro said that there is no clear evidence of assault of the couple in the CCTV footage. On the other hand, another official confirmed that the place where the incident took place was not covered by CCTV. Anyone can guess from the differences of opinions of the officials that something bad is being hidden under the carpet. Those supporting the mob argue that in the ‘Indian culture’, it is strictly prohibited to show any affectionate gesture in public. Cuddling and kissing in public signifies that we have failed to uphold our own stance and have desperately embraced western culture knowing that eventually, it will cause our ruin. They have made vociferous protests denouncing those who stand by the couple.
We have again proved that from our side there will be no lack of enthusiasm as far as the protection of our culture is concerned. But when in the same way a woman or a young child is raped and killed before our eyes we prefer to not stand up strongly against it and thus indirectly we endorse the wrong deeds of the miscreants. I feel people who were reprimanding the couple were actually doing nothing to save Indian culture. It is bitter but we can not deny that we are a far cry from western countries both in terms of culture and other issues like women’s safety that do matter.
Actually, we are dwelling in such an era where no sound, no light can enter and make us see sense. So it may be concluded that lambasting couples who allegedly kiss or embrace in public and keeping mum in spite of seeing that a woman is being violated before our eyes is our culture. Well done. Kudos to all of those helmsmen who have taken justice into their own hands to preserve this pseudo-culture.