The "Kiss of Love” in Kochi on Sunday was meant to be a protest against the increasing trend of moral policing in Kerala, particularly after the recent attack on a restaurant by a Sangh Parivar organisation (Yuva Morcha). But it turned out to be a remarkable spectacle that exposed the pretensions of progressiveness by the most literate state.
A harmless and symbolic act of kissing and hugging one another by less than 100 people had turned Marine drive in the city into a venue for a lawless free-for-all by the police, hooligans, right wing organisations and thousands of men. In the end, the handful of protesters ended up in a police station with or without kissing and hugging, and the show was taken over by moral goons themselves, even as the police watched from the sidelines.
The event will also be recorded in Kerala's socio-political history as a unique occasion when Hindu and Muslim right wing organisations fought together for the same cause - public morality. The Hindus were represented by Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and the Yuva Morcha and the Muslims, by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), which had been charged by the NIA for anti-national activities. Not surprisingly, in TV channel discussions, leaders of these organisations spoke in the same language and stressed the need to protect the culture and morality of the state. Public hugging and kissing, according to them, were deviant sexual behaviour that befitted only western cultures and attempting them in India was an affront to public morality. They argued that the groups that organised the "Kiss of Love” campaign were disruptive and had a vested interest in creating social anarchy.
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