India: Touts Face New Penalties in Delhi; Goa’s Tourist Season Draws Hawkers; Ayodhya Court Decision Greeted with Calm

By Larry Habegger | Permalink | No Comments | October 6th, 2010 | Trackback

A new law put in place in New Delhi Oct. 1 is designed to protect tourists from a scourge as old as India itself: touts. The Delhi Prevention of Touting and Malpractices against Tourists ordinance imposes a penalty of up to one year in prison and a fine of 10,000 rupees ($226). Anyone caught cheating a tourist could suffer these penalties. In other news, Goa’s tourist season is beginning and with it has come the usual band of beggars, masseurs, ear cleaners, fruit vendors and hawkers of all sorts who live off the tourist trade. Tourism industry officials have repeatedly asked the state government to control what it calls illegal hawkers but each year their numbers increase. In still other news, the nervously awaited court decision on the Ayodhya mosque and Hindu temple dispute that sparked horrific violence in 1992 was released Sept. 30 with the decision to divide the land between the communities. The feared unrest never happened. The decision has not satisfied everyone, and an appeal is forthcoming, but all is calm.

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