Tiwari wants 'anti-Romeo squads' in Delhi

NEW DELHI: BJP's national capital unit chief Manoj Tiwari on Saturday said that anti-Romeo squads should be formed in the city-state as well on the lines of Uttar Pradesh to check crimes against women.

"Anti-Romeo squad is a very good thing and I appreciate that it has been started in Uttar Pradesh again. It should be welcomed as it is related to women's safety. In my opinion, it should be started in Delhi too," he said.

But Sanjay Singh, Rajya Sabha MP from the AAP has opposed the idea, saying that "anti-Romeo squad will encourage hooliganism by the BJP party workers." "There are many instances where the members of this squad have misbehaved with the father-daughter on the streets. We all remember what had happened earlier in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh," Singh said.

The anti-Romeo squads were constituted to check stalkers and eve-teasers in UP soon after Yogi Adityanath assumed the office of the CM in 2017.

However, they came under fire after self-appointed vigilantes started harassing couples in the name of protecting women.

Several people had complained of a feeling of terror among youth due to the 'anti-Romeo squads' as some of them were made to shave their heads or do sit-ups for eve-teasing.

After a recent spike in crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath ordered that the anti-Romeo squads be re-activated.

"Delhi could not get the right attention that it needed for 21 years. We have made some vision for Delhi and we are moving forward with it," Tiwari said, while addressing BJP workers at the inaugural session of the party's Working Committee meeting.

Talking about two big problems of Delhi, Tiwari said: "Water is the biggest problem here. I cannot believe how we can have a shortage of water when we have the Yamuna river." "A pollution-free Delhi is our second agenda and we are working on it with an action plan on the old vehicles that are still in use in the capital and contributing to the rising pollution," he said.