Restaurants come under the scanner
By Khelen Thokchom
An eatery in Imphal West.
Imphal, Apr 24 : In one cozy corner of a dimly lit restaurant in Imphal East, a love-struck young couple were lost in each other, whispering sweet nothings and warming up to the intimacy when a group of men barged in to cut short their moment of bliss.
The men were members of the Amateur Athletics Association, who said they decided to act in view of reports of alarming rise in “immoral activities” in restaurants, mostly by young lovers.
It is anybody’s guess that the term “immoral activities” is a euphemism to describe physical intimacy. But the love-struck — aghast at this moral policing by all and sundry — think otherwise.
As the young Manipuris look for some privacy, the restaurants and eateries have come up with an answer: dimly-lit cabins and even double-seater sofas.
The members of the association who caught the young couple in a “compromising position” at a restaurant in Porompat of Imphal East recently, said the lovers were “minors”. The association, which had carried out “raids” on 16 restaurants in the area, handed over the two to their parents.
“The two we caught on that day were only 17 years of age. We have reports that such activities are very frequent inside several restaurants and eating joints,” Irom Sundar, secretary of the association, said.
The association has warned the restaurant owners not to encourage such activities to make some extra money and even threatened to close down the errant eateries.
A women’s organisation, Ningol Khongchat Lup, Manipur, has issued a statement suggesting that all restaurants should put up at least one photograph of a role model of the state at the entrance to curb such unwanted activities.
Some restaurant owners admitted that some of these eateries “encouraged intimacy”, for which they charge extra.
“We are aware that some of the restaurants are encouraging such activities by giving the young customers private cabins. Such restaurants will have to be corrected,” the president of All Manipur Restaurants’ Association, Ch. Shamu Singh, said.
According to official records, 75 restaurants and fast food joints are registered with the Registrar of Societies under the Manipur Societies Registration Act, 1989.
But there are also several unregistered restaurants while newer ones are coming up in every nook and cranny.
The restaurant owners say lack of a controlling mechanism has led to the unwanted activities.
Till August 2007, the All Manipur Restaurants’ Association acted as the controlling authority. Problems began when the association was dissolved thereafter, as it could no longer bear extortion demands from various militant groups.
The association, which is now reviving itself, had convened a meeting of all restaurant owners on April 8 and asked them to get their eateries registered.
The association is also planning to conduct a survey on the existing restaurants and find out how they were conducting business.
Shamu Singh said the association would submit the findings to the Registrar of Societies and other authorities for necessary action.
A police official, who did not want to be identified, said the police force hardly had any time to pay attention to the functioning of restaurants as they were busy looking after the day-to-day law and order.
However, youngsters have argued that the hue and cry was unnecessary.
“I go to restaurants with my girlfriend just to be together for some time. We only want some privacy, not physical intimacy,” a teenager from Imphal West said.
Another youngster, a sophomore in a city college, who preferred anonymity, said since her parents did not want her to be seen with her boyfriend, she had no other option but to seek the privacy of a restaurant.
Social scientist M.C. Arun too strongly reacted against the so-called cleansing drive by the self-styled moral police.
“These people have no authority to conduct such raids, round up customers or even close down restaurants. Morality is a relative matter,” Arun added.
[ via Telegraph India ]
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