MADRAS, India -- When the mullahs in Iran curbed personal freedom, Indian political leaders cried out loudly and called them names. Yet, India is now witnessing the same frightening restrictions on individual rights.

Some months ago, the police in Madras, one of India's information-technology capitals and its fourth-largest metro, placed cameras along the seafront ostensibly to check crime. But young couples courting on the beach found that they were the targets. When the cameras caught them stealing a kiss, the police blackmailed them by threatening to disclose their affairs to their parents.

And Madras' self-appointed guardians of public morality did not stop here. One of the leading universities in the city, Anna University, has imposed a dress code on its women students. No jeans, no sleeveless tops, no tights. The university's vice chancellor said such outfits provoked boys and men to leer at them. When the girls howled and protested, the university quickly extended the ban to boy students as well. What, no jeans? The boys were furious, and naturally so.