The couples who gather each evening on the stretch of reclaimed land jutting into the sea around Bombay do not come for the view.

In one of the most densely populated cities in the world, few places offer sanctuary for young lovers constrained by cultural conservatism and the constant glare of relatives. They steal kisses and exchange whispers in the most intimate setting available. But this tender act is enough to get them arrested.

More than 100 couples were rounded up by police this week for activities that in Western society would be regarded as innocent. In India, where kissing in public is technically illegal, they were deemed to be in “objectionable positions”. They were taken away in vans, fined up to 1,200 rupees for indulging in “obscene” behaviour and forced to endure the humiliation of calling their parents from behind bars.

Such a reaction by the authorities would not warrant comment in India’s less tolerant north but in the country’s most liberal city, the home of Bollywood and the commercial capital, it has left public opinion sharply divided.

The promenade is littered with couples. Most appear to be simply chatting. A few are kissing. Three retired government officers are also enjoying the evening breeze. They are among the local residents whose complaints prompted the police activity. They claim the couples are making families and joggers feel “awkward”.

Ramesh Dhatrak, 65, said: “We have no objection to them sitting and talking but kissing and other things, of which I cannot speak, are not. They can hire a room. This is India, not England.” The police say they are only combating gross indecency but many of those arrested claimed to be doing nothing more than holding hands.

Critics say the outburst of moral policing is evidence of an inherent insecurity among Hindu nationalists and the elder generation about the breakneck speed of social change.

“The fundamentalists are colliding with modern youth,” Dr Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research in Delhi, said. “India is modernising and we, as a society, are not coping with the new-found confidence of boys and girls to be together openly.”

The clampdown in Bombay comes less than two months after the Shiv Sena (Army of Shiva), a nationalist party accused of orchestrating violence against Muslims in the 1993 riots, swept to power in the municipal elections.

The party, whose supporters attack people celebrating Valentine’s Day, helped to force a ban this month on sex education books in state schools. “At a time when India wants to project itself as this modern, growing world power, decisions such as these remind us that the country continues to be governed by people who equate modernity with promiscuity,” an editorial in The Hindu lamented.

It is a confusing time for modern Indian youth, bombarded by the advertising industry with images of sexual freedom but compelled by social norms to reject them.

“Indians love brushing things under the carpet. Stop pretending that we don’t have sex. We do. Look at our population,” said Anup Kutty, editor of the the lads’ mag Maxim, whose cover this month has the cricket presenter Mandira Bedi posing in a bikini top.

But despite social progression, at least one 20-year-old agreed with the police action. Leaning on her boyfriend’s motorcycle, she said: “Hugging and kissing looks bad. I think you should wait for all physical things until after you are married.”

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