'Kiss of love' movement: They came, dared the mob, did it

KOCHI: The placard paraphrasing Pablo Neruda that a Kiss of Love (KOL) supporter held up for the whole world to see even as she was dragged away by the police at Marine Drive on a warm Sunday evening said it all: "You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep the spring from coming".

All around her there was a hideous ruckus as Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and Sunni Yuvajana Sangatana workers shrieked, "Save the country from immorality".

READ ALSO: Police arrest "Kiss of Love" supporters in Kochi

There was a tense atmosphere from noon onwards, with hundreds of people, mainly onlookers, gathering at Marine Drive, opposite IG's office, to see the kissing "live".

As for KOL volunteers, by around four in the evening young men and women and even middle aged couples from various parts of Kerala had converged at a few points in the city to protest against the growing incidents of moral policing in the state. Their aim was to march to Marine Drive where 'Kiss of Love' would be formally held.

Supporters of the 'Kiss of Love' event kiss each other during the event at Law college, Kochi on Sunday evening. (TOI photo)

By that time at Marine Drive around 5,000 onlookers had gathered. Youngsters flashing iPhones and perched on tree tops began clicking whichever woman passed. It was restless crowd, driven by repressed energy, hoping for something more real than the lewd MMSes that stoked their appetites.

It was an unruly crowd and the police thought fit to prevent the marchers from proceeding to the venue. The cops arrested 33 KOL supporters near Law College, around one kilometre away from the venue. As they were shoved into the waiting police vans, the volunteers began holding hands and hugging, some even smooching in defiance of the cops.

Policeman lathi-charge spectators who reached to watch the protest 'Kiss of Love' at Marine Drive in Kochi on Sunday. (TOI photo)

Supporters from even outside the state had gathered at various spots in the city and were planning to reach the venue, but had to change plans as the mob at Marine Drive became uncontrollable. Significantly, there was a huge contingent of KOL volunteers from Kozhikode which is where it all began. The campaign was ignited after RSS-affiliated Yuva Morcha activists attacked a restaurant when a private television channel aired visuals of a couple smooching in the restaurant.

READ ALSO: IIT-Bombay to lock lips with Kochi's 'Kiss of Love' movement

KOL activists complained that the cops could have arranged a secure place in Marine Drive and driven off the militant anti-kiss campaign supporters but instead they chose to detain them. "They pushed and shoved our volunteers but did not touch Shiv Sena or Bajrang Dal workers,'' said Jerry Mathew, a KOL volunteer.

The Kiss of Love campaign on Sunday succeeded partially. But it is only the beginning. As Namita Shan, who came from Mumbai with her two year-old kid, said, "We are coming back soon for more."

(With inputs from Shyam.PV@timesgroup.com and Greeshma.Giri@timesgroup.com)

READ ALSO: TV debate on 'Kiss of love' breaks down

Supporters of 'Kiss of Love' protest by kissing each other at Marine Drive in Kochi on Sunday. (TOI photo)

Times View

The spectacle served its purpose. The kissing may have been more like pecking, and stolen ones at that, but the moral brigade turning out in force to break up the event only highlights what the organisers of 'Kiss of Love' were hyperventilating right from the start - Kerala, for all its progressive benchmarks, is becoming an increasingly intolerant and prudish society.

That almost all political parties would actually turn up to demonstrate against the event, rather than dismiss it as unworthy of their attention, was surprising; even more so was the number of apparently well-dressed onlookers who gathered on their own, seeking titillation, and, if chaos ensued, as it did, really 'rub' it in. The police chose to err on the side of caution, blocking KOL campaigners before they could reach the planned venue, arguably preventing worse scenes. It's a shameful day for Kerala but, as the spunky youngsters who defied the mobs showed, all is not lost.

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