Jumping on to the bandwagon of opposition to the ‘Kiss of Love’ event, proposed to be held later this month in the city, Manjula Manasa, chairperson of the Karnataka State Women’s Commission, has urged the Home Department not to grant permission to it, describing the event as “uncivilised.”
In two letters addressed to the Police Commissioner and the Home Minister, Ms. Manasa said that opposing such events was “inevitable” in a context where atrocities against women were taking many ugly forms.
“Holding such street events to express opposition to moral policing is contrary to our culture,” she said in the letter.
Ms. Manasa said that what ought to “retain its sanctity within the four walls” should not become a publicity stunt and added that it was being discreet in such matters that marked “the animals apart from the humans.”
She said that the State government should not allow the event to be held which had “already faced opposition from most members of the civil society.”
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Sunday, Home Minister K.J. George said, “obscenity in the name of protests will not be tolerated.” He said that the government would “not allow demonstrations that go against the State’s culture.”
However, he said protesters were free to hold demonstrations within the constitutional framework.
“If they transgress the boundaries of the constitutional framework or take law into their hands, the local police will take action,” Mr. George said.
DCP (Central), Sandeep Patil, said they had received a requisition from the organisers seeking permission to hold the event on November 30.
“We are consulting legal experts and looking into whether or not to give permission for such events,” he said.
Kiss of Love is a country-wide campaign against moral policing. It started in Kerala and has later spread to other parts. In Kerala, the campaign began through a Facebook page, which called upon young people from across the State to meet at Kochi on November 2 to hug and kiss in a peaceful protest against moral policing. The immediate trigger for the protest was an incident in October when a group of persons vandalised a coffee shop in Kozhikode, after a private Malayalam television channel telecast a report on “immoral activity” taking place in its parking space. There had been a series of similar incidents of moral policing.
The event at Kochi saw support as well as widespread condemnation. At Kochi, there was a lathi-charge to control the mob that had gathered to protest against the event. Similar protests were organised in Mumbai and Delhi later. The event in Bengaluru is scheduled to be held on November 30.
