Indian cops fight 'immorality'

2005-09-14 13:09

Srinagar - Police in Indian Kashmir announced a drive on Wednesday to stop couples courting in cyber cafes and restaurants as part of a fight against "immorality" in the Muslim-majority region.

Police said they had told cyber cafes and restaurants to remove by Saturday booths with opaque glass doors where couples meet.

"Some cyber cafe and restaurant owners have made opaque cabins to provide a safe heaven for couples," said Muneer Khan, police chief in Srinagar, summer capital of Indian Kashmir where an Islamic revolt is raging against New Delhi's rule.

"It's a drive against growing immorality and adultery," added police station chief Ali Mohammed.

'Moral degradation'

He said "violators of the police order would face action" but did not elaborate.

Police declared the crackdown after protests erupted following the arrest earlier this month of the head of a women's separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Milat or Daughters of Faith. The group had launched a campaign against "moral degradation".

Asiya Andrabi, wife of a rebel leader and head of the group, was arrested when she raided a Srinagar restaurant in pursuit of unmarried couples.

She and the group had been staging the raids on restaurants, cyber cafes and hotels in what they called a bid to stamp out adultery and the sex trade.

Police said they arrested her because she was taking the law into her own hands and accused her of staging the raids at the behest of the rebels who embrace a strict form of Islam. <>Wide public support

But her drive enjoyed wide public support and her arrest sparked demonstrations.

Some residents welcomed the police move to make it harder for unmarried couples to meet alone.

"It's the police's duty to tell parents if their children skip school to indulge in anti-Islamic activities," said government employee Bashir Ahmed.

Residents say young people, mostly students, visit cyber cafes where they pay 30 rupees (60 cents) an hour to stay in cabins where no one disturbs them.

"The couples sometimes watch sexually graphic movies downloaded from the internet," said a cyber cafe employee.

After the revolt erupted in 1989, Indian Kashmir became much more socially conservative as rebels forced beauty parlours, cinemas and wine shops to close.

- AFP