Dissociating the term 'anti-Romeo squad' from the Indian culture, Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Saturday said that some other name such as 'Heer-Ranjha' or 'Laila-Majnu' could instead have been taken, adding that it was the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) anti-cultural approach which led to this.
Slamming the government over its recent move, Khurshid said it could not direct somebody on how to lead his life.
"Discussion can be made on how it is right or wrong. A limit can be defined about it. Will the government decide how will one lead his life? This is wrong. If there is eve-teasing, there should be a check on it and it should be stopped but it will be very unfortunate if police resorts to teasing through this," Khurshid told ANI.
Dubbing it as their regressive mindset, another Congress leader Meem Afzal said the BJP was pulling people 100 years back by this policy of theirs.
"On one hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to make India like Europe, London and America and on the other hand, he wants to take youth, women and everybody 100 years back with this anti-Romeo squad and do moral policing as it used to take place a century ago. This gives an impression about the BJP's policies and ideology. Their policies do not match with their ideologies," he told ANI.
Following Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's orders for the safety of girls in the state, Director General of Police (DGP) Javeed Ahmed on Wednesday launched 'anti-Romeo' squads to check on eve-teasing in public areas.
Ahmed also tweeted saying "Safety of girls or ladies is the sole intent of the anti-Romeo squads. No moral policing."
Adityanath had directed the state police to adopt a zero tolerance towards crime and take immediate steps towards improving law and order in the state.