Thiruvananthapuram : Undeterred by threats from various outfits, organisers of the controversial ‘Kiss of Love’ protest are going ahead with arrangements to facilitate the people coming to the Marine Drive in Kerala’s port city of Kochi on Sunday to register their protest against moral policing by ‘hugging and kissing’ each other.
‘Free Thinkers’, a group of social networking website Facebook users, is organising the programme in the wake of the attack on a coffee shop in the northern city of Kozhikode by the activists of Bharatiya Janata Yuv Morcha (BJYM) alleging immoral activities there.
Rahul Sisupalan, who heads the ‘Free Thinkers’ said on Saturday that the event will be conducted peacefully. All irrespective of age and marital status are welcome to participate in the event; he said adding that none will be forced to kiss.
The participants can register their protest by raising placards containing slogans against the moral policing. The organizers are expecting 700 to 1000 people, including several celebrities, to gather at the Marine Drive. The protest will be held as scheduled at 5 pm, Pasupalan said.
On Friday, the organisers had got a boost with the Kerala high court refusing to interfere with the event after the state government assured action would be taken in the event of any illegal activities. City police authorities have made it clear that they will intervene if anybody does anything obscene.
The city police will be deploying additional forces at the venue and around it in view of the threat by some outfits to block the event. All student wings of political parties, except the Students Federation of India (SFI), have opposed the initiative. Kerala Students Union, the student wing of the ruling Congress, said they would not permit youngsters to kiss in public, as it went against the cultural values.
Muslim Students Federation (MSF) state president T P Asharafali said his organisation would oppose both the ‘Kiss of Love’ event and the moral policing. “Kiss of Love is against the value system and ethos of the state. Moral policing should also be condemned equally, he said.
However, some young legislators have extended support to the initiative. Palghat MP M B Rajesh of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said public display of affection was a means to spread respect, love and friendship. He pointed out there was nothing wrong for ordinary people to display public affection when celebrities, world leaders and even spiritual leaders were indulging in it.
V T Balram, Congress MLA from Thrithala, backed the event saying everybody had a right to support, oppose and join any protest programme. He termed moves to obstruct the ‘Kiss of Love’ undemocratic. P C Vishnunath, Congress MLA from Chengannur, also shared his view.
