Few days back two unfortunate girls had to go behind bars, in Maharshtra for posting their views on social media after the death of Bal Thackery. The poor girls just posted their views on Facebook that Mumbai should not be closed on account of death of Shiv Sena supremo. In this free democratic country, one does not have the freedom to express their views and surprisingly, the police behaved in such illegal manner to arrest the girls for this act of expressing their views, that no action has been taken so far against the errant police officers. Rather, they should be behind bars for misusing their powers and harassing the innocent girls.
In an article, Hindustan Times reported that the self-styled social reformers of Sunderbadi village panchayat in Kochadham block of Kishanganj district issued the orders banning women from using mobiles. “The villagers have issued an order to impose a fine of Rs.10,000 if a girl is found using a mobile phone, while a married woman will have to pay a fine of Rs.2,000 if found talking on a mobile outside her house,” the district official said.
A senior police official at the police headquarters here said it was the first such diktat issued by a village panchayat in Bihar. “There is no precedent to such an order issued by a Bihar village panchayat,” the official said.
“Mobile phone is the cause of all evils in our society, including increasing love affairs and the incidents of elopement,” a village elder claimed. Kishanganj is a Muslim-dominated district, and among the most backward districts in Bihar with 60 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
It is very strange that India being a free and democratic country, one is not free here to express their views or lead the life the way one likes. Everybody criticises Talibans for imposing restrictions on the society in Afghanistan to lead a restrained life, but one wonders what is happening in India. The above two developments should be an eye openers for us and the government to ensure that such type of incidents should not recur again in future and whosoever is responsible for imposing such restrictions, should be dealt with strong hand and exemplary punishment should be meted out to them.
