Kiss of love event, which was born in Kerala, has spread to Madras as well. On Friday, IIT students of Chennai have gathered at their campus and extended support to kiss of love. The students, opposing moral policing by groups, hugged and kissed each other. The students at the Himalayan mess, while raising protest against moral policing, sang songs and danced on the occasion.The kiss of love event took place for more than a hour. . Kiss of Love protestis a non-violent protest against moral policingwhich started in Keralaand later spread to other parts of India. The movement began when a Facebookpage called Kiss of love asked the youth across Kerala to participate in a protest against moral policing on November 2, 2014, at Marine Drive, Cochin. The movement received widespread support with more than 120,000 Likes for the Facebook page. After the initial protest in Kochi, similar protests were organised in other major cities of the country. It received opposition from various religious and political groups like Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, SDPI, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Sena and Ernakulamwing of Kerala Students Union. Both the Supreme Court of Indiaand Delhi High Courthave made it clear that kissing in public is not an obscene act and no criminal proceedings can be initiated, for kissing in public, through landmark judgments. Background There were several instances of moral policing in Kerala in the 2000s. In 2011, a 26-year-old youth was killed by a mob in Kodiyathur, Kerala, for allegedly having an affair with a married woman. All of the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2014. In June 2014, a female theatre artiste and her male colleague were detained in police custody for traveling together at night, which stirred protests against moral policing on social media. In July 2013, police arrested a couple from a beach in Alappuzhafor suspected “immoral activity” as the woman was not wearing any accessories to suggest that she was married. In April 2013, an artist from Kochi was harassed by two policewomen when she went for a stroll on Marine Drive with a male friend. In June 2012, a gang of men attacked and beat up a pregnant woman sitting alone in a bus shelter in Kannur. The womans husband had asked her to rest while he went to a nearby ATM since she was heavily pregnant.In June 2011, An IT professional, on her way to work at Kochis IT park, was accosted by a group of drunken men because she was riding pillion on a male colleagues bike. The drunken men argued with her, and then abused and slapped her. Several similar cases have been reported throughout Kerala. The Kiss of Love protest was sparked off in October 2014 when Jai Hind TV, a Malayalamnews channel owned by the Indian National Congress, telecast an exclusive report on alleged immoral activity at the parking space of Downtown Cafe in Kozhikode.The video showed a young couple kissing and hugging each other. A mob of attackers, who were later identified as belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morchavandalized the cafe following the report.Rahul Pasupalan, an aspiring film maker from Kerala, started the Facebook page Kiss of Love. Activists from all over Kerala decided to protest against the series of moral policing incidents by organizing Kiss of love event, which was born in Kerala, has spread to Madras as well. On Friday, IIT students of Chennai have gathered at their campus and extended support to kiss of love. The students, opposing moral policing by groups, hugged and kissed each other. The students at the Himalayan mess, while raising protest against moral policing, sang songs and danced on the occasion.The kiss of love event took place for more than a houra public event at Marine Drive beach on November 2 in Kochi
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 05:50:28 +0000
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