Non-violent protest against moral policing
| Kiss of Love Protest |
|---|
 Protest in Ernakulam |
| Date | 2 November 2014[1]
(Initial outburst) |
|---|
| Location | |
|---|
| Caused by | Multiple instances of moral policing |
|---|
| Methods | Protest by French kissing, hugging and holding hands |
|---|
|
| Arrested | Around 50 |
|---|
| Charged | Around 100[2] |
|---|
The Kiss of Love protest was a non-violent protest against moral policing. It started in Kerala, India, and later spread to other parts of the country.[3][4][5][6][7]
The movement began when a Facebook page called Kiss of Love called forth the youth across Kerala to participate in a protest against moral policing on November 2, 2014, at Marine Drive, Cochin.[8][9] The Facebook page garnered more than 154,404 followers.[10][11] After the initial protest in Kochi, similar protests were organized in other major cities of the country.
The movement later received opposition from various religious and political groups, including the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, SDPI, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Sena.[12][13][14][15] In a series of judgments, both the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court ruled that kissing in public is not an obscene act and that no criminal proceedings can be initiated for kissing in public.[16][17][18][19][20]
Background
In the 2000s and early 2010s, there were a series of high-profile incidents of violence against individuals for perceived obscene conduct. Attacks were carried out by both police and vigilante actors.
Activities
Origins
The Kiss of Love protest was sparked off in October 2014 when Jai Hind TV, a Malayalam news channel owned by the Indian National Congress, telecast an exclusive report on alleged immoral activity at the parking space of Downtown Cafe in Kozhikode.[21] The video showed a young couple kissing and hugging each other.[22] A mob of attackers, who were later identified as belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, vandalized the cafe following the report. Following this, a group of friends from a Facebook page called 'Freethinkers', started the Facebook page 'Kiss of Love'.[23] Activists from all over Kerala decided to protest against the series of moral policing incidents by organizing a public event at Marine Drive beach on November 2 in Kochi.[24]
On November 2, 2014, activists gathered at Marine Drive, Kochi to express solidarity with the movement against moral policing. A planned march proceeded from the campus of Ernakulam Law College to the venue, during which the police took around 50 activists into preventive custody, citing law and order issues.[25][26] Various religious and political groups also gathered on the protest ground to physically prevent the activists from kissing and hugging in public.[27]
Kerala Police was criticized for its failure to control the event.[28][29] Police allowed counter-protesters—who included members of Shiv Sena, SDPI, and Bajrang Dal—to attack the protest.[30] Although they attempted to physically stop the Kiss of Love protesters from legally protesting, none of the counter protesters were removed.[29][31] Police later claimed that they arrested the Kiss of Love protesters to save the protesters' lives.[32]
Further activities
The protest was very popular on social networking sites and in the news media.[10][11] The opposing groups allegedly compelled the Facebook authorities to block the Kiss of Love page through mass reporting[33] on November 3.[34] The profile pages of all of the administrators were blocked as well. One of the administrators said that the page had 50,000 members at the time of blocking. The page was reinstated later that day and the number of members soon crossed 75,000.[35] Supporters of the campaign had been posting pictures of them kissing on social networking sites.[36]
Kollam-based women's rights activist Resmi R Nair was the co-founder and spokesperson of the Kiss of Love protest.[37] Another activist, Rehana Fathima, also participated in the protest along with her partner, film-maker Manoj K Sreedhar.[38]
A group of students at Maharaja's College, Ernakulam protested against moral policing by conducting an event named 'Hug of Love'. All the participants were later suspended for 10 days by the College authorities for violating the 'code of conduct'.[39]
Another group of students from Government Law College Kozhikode organized an event called Hug of Love on 10/12/2014. Authorities took this as an act of indiscipline and served show cause notice to participants.
A protest against moral policing in Thiruvananthapuram with kisses and hugs under the banner 'kiss against fascism' was conducted in front of the Kairali theater complex during the 19th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) on 13 December 2014.[40]
Kiss In The Streets
A Kiss protest dubbed as 'Kiss In The Streets' was organized on 7 December in Kozhikode. Right-wing opponents of the kiss protest issued threats before the event, stating that protesters would be stripped naked in public, if they attempted to kiss.[41] The event was marred by violence towards the protesters by Shiv Sena and Hanuman Sena.[42] Police resorted to caning and took the Kiss of Love protesters and their opponents into preventive custody.[43] Protesters claimed that Kerala Police were more brutal than the Right-wing assailants.[44]
Support outside Kerala
The event gathered support from educational institutions outside of Kerala including University of Hyderabad, JNU Delhi, IISER Kolkata, Pondicherry University, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay.[45][46][47][48][49][50] Students from Jadavpur University and Presidency University, Kolkata organized similar protests against moral policing in Kolkata on 5 November 2014.[51][52] The Kolkata chapter also protested against the authorities of north Kolkata's Star Theatre for allegedly refusing entry to a 17-year-old girl because she was dressed in a skirt.[53]
On November 8, a group of protestors demonstrated by kissing and hugging outside RSS headquarters in Delhi.[54] While JNU students were at the forefront, there were representatives from several universities in the city like Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Ambedkar University Delhi and National Law University.[55] Hindu Sena members arrived on the scene stating that the "Western culture was corrupting and degrading Indian culture".[56] Hindu Sena members tried to physically attack kissing couples.[57] On November 9, a similar protest was organized by students in JNU campus, in solidarity with those who courted police action at the 'Kiss of Love' event in Kochi on November 2.[58] A Kiss of Love event that was scheduled for 30 November in Bengaluru was canceled when permission for protest was denied by Bengaluru Police.[59][60]
Legality
Section 294(a) of Indian Penal Code states that "Whoever, to the annoyance of others, does any obscene act in any public place shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both".[61] IPC does not define the word 'obscene', hence it is interpreted differently by different authorities. The Supreme Court has noted that "'obscenity' should be gauged with respect to contemporary community standards".[62]
The court has also observed that the "standards of contemporary society in India are…fast changing" in Chandrakant Kalyandas Kakodar vs The State Of Maharashtra 1969.[63] Regarding 'contemporary community standards', the Supreme Court has noted that it is not "the standard of a group of susceptible or sensitive persons" that can be held as the standard of the community, in Aveek Sarkar vs State of West Bengal (2014).[64] Regarding social morality, the Supreme Court has observed that "notions of social morality are inherently subjective and the criminal law cannot be used as a means to unduly interfere with the domain of personal autonomy" in Khushboo vs Kanniamal (2010).[62] Now with regards to kissing and hugging in public places, the Supreme Court of India has made it clear that 'no case can be made out' of two people consensually hugging and/or kissing.[16][17] Supreme Court gave this verdict in response to a petition filed by actor Richard Gere to quash the arrest warrant issued by a Jaipur court. The arrest warrant was issued after the actor had taken Shilpa Shetty in his embrace and kissed her on the cheek at an AIDS awareness program.[65] A verdict by Delhi High Court has also made it clear that kissing in public is not a criminal offense.[66]
Opposition
Kiss of Love was met with opposition and criticism from certain sections of Indian society.[3] Several religious and political groups like Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, SDPI, Sunni Yuvajana Sangham, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Sena, Campus Front, Samastha Kerala Sunni Yuvajana Sanghom, Pattali Makkal Katchi, Hindu Makkal Katchi and Ernakulam wing of Kerala Students Union opposed this movement.[12][13][14][15] These opposing groups claimed that public display of affection is against both Indian culture and the law of the land (under section 294 of the Indian Penal Code).[67] The Kerala State Women's Commission opposed Kiss of Love stating that it was against the culture of Kerala.[45][68]
The proposed Kiss of Love event in Bengaluru received opposition from several quarters. Manjula Manasa, chairperson of the Karnataka State Women's Commission described the event as uncivilized.[69] Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, several Congress and BJP leaders and various Hindutva proponents also opposed it.[70] Bengaluru Police refused to give permission for the event, stating that kissing is an obscene act.[60][71] Pramod Muthalik of Sri Ram Sena, the organization behind 2009 Mangalore pub attack, threatened to take the law into his hands if the campaign was held.[72]
