Kiss of Love: Indian Institute of Management Raipur Page 1 of 4

Kiss of Love
India may be the world's largest democracy, but a kiss can still land you in
serious trouble. Kissing in public is not against the law here, but it is still
considered somewhat taboo and it is totally unacceptable to an increasingly
active right-wing Hindu moral police. Lovers can be beaten up for kissing on the
street or even for holding hands.
Kiss of Love protest is a non-violent protest against moral policing which started
in Kerala and later spread to other parts of India. The movement began when a
Facebook page 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 154,000 'Likes' for the
Facebook page. After the initial
protest in Kochi, similar
protests were organized in
other major cities of the
country.
There were several instances
of moral policing in Kerala in
the 2000s. In 2011, a 26-yearold youth was killed by a mob
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. Several similar cases have been reported
throughout Kerala.
The fight against public display of affection comes from the same Hindu vigilante
groups that in the past have targeted Valentine's Day celebrations, painting
exhibitions, pubs, beauty salons and clubs or other expressions that don't
conform to their notion of proper morality.
The Kiss of Love protest was sparked off in October 2014 when a Malayalam
news channel, telecast an exclusive report on alleged immoral activity at a Cafe
Indian Institute of Management Raipur
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in Kozhikode. It showed a young couple kissing and hugging each other. A mob
of attackers vandalized the cafe following the report. Following this, Rahul
Pasupalan, a short film maker from Kerala, and a group of friends from a
Facebook page called 'Freethinkers', started the Facebook page 'Kiss of Love'.
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.
The protest was very popular on social networking sites and news media.
Supporters of the campaign have been posting pictures of them kissing on
social networking sites.
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Justification
But instead of having a healthy atmosphere where we can discover our joys and
needs, where there is more information and understanding about love and
sexuality, we often come across repressive moral policing that try to shame us
for feeling what we do. That tries to tell us that were children, not adolescents or
adults with valid needs that we are grappling to understand, and definitely willing
to explore, respectfully. Like our desires have no dignity of their own.
Loksatta Party (Karnataka) declared its support to the Kiss of
Love (KOL) protests rights, in accordance with Article 19 (1) (b) of the Indian
Constitution, which guarantees the right to assemble peacefully without arms.
Opposition
Kiss of Love was met with opposition and criticism from certain sections of
Indian society. Several religious and political groups like Bharatiya Janata Yuva
Morcha, 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. These opposing groups claimed that public display of affection is
against both Indian culture and the law of the land.
Actress Shobhana indicated her disapproval of the "Kiss Of Love" campaign
against moral policing, saying kissing is a personal matter. The Kerala High
Court said the Kiss of protest was an immoral activity and came down heavily on
moral policing holding that it was an act of hooliganism. Kannada & Culture
Minister Umashree said that such public display of affection is against our
culture.
Kiss of Love protesters were attacked in two different ways. On one hand,
there was the physical threat posed by the right wing anti-kiss
campaigners. On the other, the state used force to disperse the protest
because of the law and order problem created by the anti-protest activists.
Legal
Point
of
View
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. IPC does not define the word 'obscene', hence it is interpreted differently
by different authorities. On specific occasions but not exclusively, both the
Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court have 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.
Other Points
An anchor from a TV channel questioned the office bearer of BJP Yuva Morcha,
Dont couples have a right to be at a beach together at night? And, not
surprisingly, he answered, What happened in Delhi when a girl was traveling
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with her lover at night in a bus? With this statement, he eventually implied that,
Delhi rape happened because the girl was roaming around with her boyfriend at
midnight. This is known as victim blaming.
Situations where speakers are silenced by the state because an unruly crowd
creates pressure through its violence are what American jurist Harry Kalven was
trying to describe when he coined the term hecklers veto. Kalven pointed out
that if the police can silence the speaker, the law in effect acknowledges a veto
power in hecklers who can, by being hostile enough, get the law to silence any
speaker of whom they do not approve.
A hecklers veto creates very bad incentives for those who oppose free
expression since it permits an angry mob to use the law to silence speakers.
This threatens the open public discussion that is critical to democracy.
The Kiss of Love protestors were not the ones causing public disorder. That
distinction belongs to the intolerant anti-protest activists who disrespected the
protesters autonomy. When this extremism is facilitated by the state, through its
failure to distinguish between peaceful protestors and the thugs who use law
and order problems to threaten them, it becomes clear that our laws are being
used to facilitate the hecklers veto, not to protect citizens rights.
Pink Chaddi Campaign

On 6 February 2009 in an incident of moral policing a group of men who claimed
to belong to Sri Ram Sena attacked a group of women in Mangalore, India. On 9
Feb 2009, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said that "Sri Ram Sene is a threat
to the country. The Centre is watching its activities with great concern".
A protest was started by a group of young women, called the "Pink Chaddi"
campaign, where they urged a peaceful protest to all of India, by sending pink
underwear to Mr. Pramod Muthalik's (Chief of Sri Ram Sena) office on
Valentine's Day. As the protest grew, underwear started pouring in from
locations all over India in solidarity for the "Love Sena". Over 500 pink chaddis
were couriered on Friday. Other cities collected hundreds of such chaddis and
decided to courier them directly.

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Kiss of Love

Indian Institute of Management Raipur

Indian Institute of Management Raipur

Indian Institute of Management Raipur

Pink Chaddi Campaign

Indian Institute of Management Raipur

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