 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) | 印度東部城市加爾哥達市的100多對夫婦正計劃在該市的市長辦公室外舉行一場別開生面的抗議活動。其中一位組織者3月5日說，這次名為"親吻擁抱"的抗議活動是為了要求政府在該市劃出一個特殊區域，讓追求浪漫的人們可以在那里自由地親吻擁抱。 這些夫婦將在3月26日舉行這次抗議活動，要求政府為他們劃出一塊特殊的區域讓他們進行約會，而不受到聒噪的警察或者討厭的小商販們的打擾。 組織這次活動的 "Lovers' Organization For Voluntary Exhibition"（簡稱LOVE組織）主席魯帕克·馬努什告訴記者說："我們的市長對愛情根本沒有概念。他認為我們根本不需要一塊單獨僻出的'愛情角'，所以我們決定在市長辦公的加爾哥達市政大樓前擁抱接吻，進行抗議。" 在民風保守的印度，當眾接吻是不被認可的。 即便在這個被視為印度社會進步程度最高的城市之一加爾哥達市，這種保守的社會風氣也還是很難改變的。 對此，加爾哥達市市長對記者說："根本沒有必要開辟這樣一個愛情角。這是個無理要求，就讓他們去抗議好了。" (中國日報網站譯) |
Updated: 2002-03-11 01:00
