 More than 100 couples plan to hold a "kiss and hug" protest outside the office of Calcutta's city mayor to press demands for a special area for romantics in the eastern Indian city, one of the organizers said on February 5.
The couples, who will hold their protest on March 26, are demanding a special area where they can meet without harassment from nosy police officers or inopportune hawkers. "Our mayor does not seem to have any idea about love. He says we don't need a separate love zone. So we have decided to have couples hug and kiss in front in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation where he works," Rupak Manush, president of Lovers' Organization For Voluntary Exhibition (LOVE), told reporters. Kissing in public is disapproved of in conservative India. And even in Calcutta, seen as one of India's most socially-progressive cities, attitudes are hard to change. "There is no need for love zones for romantics. This is a bogus demand. Let them protest," Subroto Mukherjee, mayor of Calcutta, told reporters. (Agencies) | 印度东部城市加尔哥达市的100多对夫妇正计划在该市的市长办公室外举行一场别开生面的抗议活动。其中一位组织者3月5日说，这次名为"亲吻拥抱"的抗议活动是为了要求政府在该市划出一个特殊区域，让追求浪漫的人们可以在那里自由地亲吻拥抱。 这些夫妇将在3月26日举行这次抗议活动，要求政府为他们划出一块特殊的区域让他们进行约会，而不受到聒噪的警察或者讨厌的小商贩们的打扰。 组织这次活动的 "Lovers' Organization For Voluntary Exhibition"（简称LOVE组织）主席鲁帕克·马努什告诉记者说："我们的市长对爱情根本没有概念。他认为我们根本不需要一块单独僻出的'爱情角'，所以我们决定在市长办公的加尔哥达市政大楼前拥抱接吻，进行抗议。" 在民风保守的印度，当众接吻是不被认可的。 即便在这个被视为印度社会进步程度最高的城市之一加尔哥达市，这种保守的社会风气也还是很难改变的。 对此，加尔哥达市市长对记者说："根本没有必要开辟这样一个爱情角。这是个无理要求，就让他们去抗议好了。" (中国日报网站译) |
Updated: 2002-03-11 01:00
