'A boy and a girl can never be friends'

MEERUT: Sitting in an “anti-Romeo” police jeep, a TOI team joins two women and two male constables whose sole task through the day is to be on the lookout for “miscreants” and to prevent crimes against women. To what extent they are allowed to go is unclear, so the policemen take it upon themselves to loudly reprimand youths and “save them from moral collapse”.The jeep moves slowly around schools, colleges and markets, looking for “Romeos” who harass women. But how are such young men identified? “Ab kisi ke chehre pe to nahi likha hota ki kaun Romeo hai. Par humari itne saal ki duty hai ki hum ladkon ki ankhon se, unke chehre se aur unke khade hone ke andaz se pehchaan lete hain ki kaun sharif ghar ka hai aur kaun Romeo hai (While people’s faces don’t have ‘Romeo’ written on them, we have been in the police force for so many years that we can identify them just by the look in their eyes, their face, and the way they stand),” says a male constable.The squad descends on a boy standing outside a girl’s college. He is reprimanded in stern words. “But I have just come to meet my friend,” the boy squeals. “A boy and a girl can never be friends. If you are such good friends, you should go to the girl’s house, take her parents’ permission and then talk to her. Don’t spoil the atmosphere out in the streets,” a constable retorts.The constable is interrupted by his wireless handset. The squad is asked to join a larger team led by the superintendent of police at a coaching centre hub, where young boys and girls scamper as the six-car convoy arrives. A young school boy in the parking lot is reprimanded by a police officer, “Why are you standing here? Go home!”A woman standing outside a book stall is asked, “What are you doing here? Is anyone troubling you?” She says, “No, I am here with my son to buy his school books.” She holds her little son tight.The police team then proceeds to a women’s college in the locality, scolds a few boys standing outside and has a brief chat with the college principal who praises the team for the “wonderful initiative”. Some photos are clicked, and the police team, satisfied that the operation is working well, leaves to perform other duties.The anti-Romeo squad continues its vigil outside a college. “Romeo was British?” asks a constable. “No, I think he was Greek. His name is now popular because of us,” the second male constable says, happy at his answer. “Even if Romeo and Juliet were famous lovers, it is not something that our culture accepts. It might work in England or Greece, or wherever they belonged, but not in India.”SP (city) Alok Priyadarshi claims there is no moral policing. “We are only ensuring the safety of the city. It is not our intention to harass innocents and couples,” he says.But the message, it seems, is not percolating. “Of course it is the police’s job to get youngsters on to the right path. We have a responsibility to society,” a constable says, before the team spots another group of youths and lunges at them, ready with the model code of conduct to be read out.