There seems to be a view that all those sympathetic to the Hindutva ideology in Tamil Nadu are opposed to the ‘Kiss of Love’ campaign that saw its first manifestation in the State in the IIT-Madras last week.
But the response from within the Sangh Parivar has been anything but homogeneous, with debates raging online and offline on what the ‘right response’ to the campaign should be.
For starters, outfits like the Hindu Munnani (HM), which practises a very aggressive form of Hindutva, took to the streets against the students. It organised a ‘spitting protest’ outside the IIT-Madras to condemn ‘Kiss of Love,’ invoking varied reactions.
The BJP in Tamil Nadu, too, joined the chorus against the campaign, which first began in Kerala as a counter to ‘moral policing.’
While time and again the sculptures on Hindu temples portraying eroticism have been cited to show the acceptance of public display of affection in the Indic tradition, BJP State secretary Anu Chandramouli says the campaign could not be equated to the projection of divine acts through art.
Ms. Anu says there seems to be an urge among a section to protest in a manner that is an affront to cultural sentiments. This urge was being fanned further by those with “ulterior motives.” “Rather than encouraging the students to perform their duties better, groups with ulterior motives encourage such protests with a view to weakening the nation,” she alleged.
However, there are contrary views within the Sangh Parivar. A Hindutva idealogue and author Aravindan Neelakandan says ‘Kiss of Love’ and the opposition to the campaign have betrayed the “cultural illiteracy” of those involved. Public display of affection, he says, is not against Indian culture. “For example, Tamil Nationalist poet Subramania Bharati used to put his hands around his wife’s shoulders when they walked together. Nobody understood Indian culture as he did,” Mr. Aravindan says. However, the students should ask themselves the question of whether such a campaign was necessary at this point.
