Haryana unleashes ‘Operation Durga’ on eve-teasers

Following in the footsteps of ‘Anti-Romeo’ squads of UP’s Yogi government, the Haryana government has launched ‘Operation Durga’ to catch eve-teasers. And within a day, the police arrested 72 men allegedly harassing women.

Reports say that ‘Operation Durga’ is being conducted under the close watch of the chief minister himself.

Haryana government maintained that most women were hesitant in reporting eve-teasing incidents despite women police stations having been opened all over the state. “Therefore, the campaign ‘Operation Durga’ was undertaken after identifying places where such anti-social elements were engaged in eve-teasing, passing lewd comments, stalking women etc.,” an unidentified official told PTI.

Despite the flak the ‘Anti-Romeo’ squads have drawn and even though some women’s organisations appealed to the UP government to disband the vigilante groups, the Haryana government admits that it got inspired by the lead provided by Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh.

The flying squad include teams of nine sub-inspectors of police, 14 assistant sub-inspectors, six head constables and 13 constables, besides other police officers from each district.

The media advisor to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s government, Amit Arya, told a newspaper, “What is wrong in following the good moves of other states?”

While few expect the campaign to last long, the Khattar government has caught social media’s attention for now. Some on social media are welcoming the move while others are offering suggestions to improve the operation.

Following social media debates on cow, meat-eating and ‘Gau Rakshaks’, the discourse on ‘Operation Durga’ appears to be the latest trend.

With PTI inputs