Move to tackle moral policing welcomed

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Welcoming CM Siddaramaiah’s announcement that the government will crack down on moral policing in the state, human rights activists said that the government must ensure that the culprits are punished as per the law.

“It is a welcome move from the government, whose responsibility it is to ensure the safety of citizens of the State. Such culprits have no right to act on their own, which only reflects their conservative and frustrated mindset,” said Brinda Adige, a social activist.

The CM said the govt will give utmost importance to maintaining law and order and will take stringent action against those who harass people in the name of moral policing, spread fake news through social media, or disturb harmony.

Its mention in the Budget session comes in the backdrop of a recent moral policing incident in Mangaluru.

It also initiated a call for strict action. Advocate and activist Vinay Sreenivas told News Trail that the state government must take strict action against such culprits and also ensure that past such records are taken into consideration and FIRs filed against them.

While in most cases the culprits go unpunished, activist Adige said it was also the responsibility of the government to ensure the executors are duly educated and courageous enough to file an FIR against the culprits.

“The role of the judiciary also plays an important role in such cases and the courts must speed up legal courses to prevent moral policing”, Adige told News Trail. Whether it is a single person or a gang indulging in the wrong act, it is the responsibility of the court to pull them up and ensure such things are not repeated,” she added.