'Kiss of Love' held in JNU Sunday: What is this controversy all about?

New Delhi: A day after of “Kiss of Love” debuted in Delhi, a similar such event was held today at Jawaharlal Nehru University campus here. Scores of youths, mostly students, gathered at the Ganga Dhaba at 4.30 pm and indulged in public display of affection protesting against moral policing.They raised slogans against moral policing, hugged and kissed each other in solidarity with those who courted police action at the ‘Kiss of Love' event in Kochi on November 2. “We want freedom to express our love. Kissing hugging has been there in our vedas, it's there on the walls of Khajuraho,” said a student.The organisers of yesterday's event in front of the RSS office in Jhandewalan, claimed on Facebook that they were receiving threatening and abusive messages and phone calls. Yesterday, the protesters were stopped by police who had set up barricades on the roads when they tried to march from the Jhandewalan metro station to the RSS office. The first “Kiss of Love” event was held in Kochi on November 2 after activists from Kerala decided to protest against alleged moral policing by right-wing groups. Similar events have been organised at Kolkata, Hyderabad and Mumbai. The campaign stated after a coffee shop in north Kerala's Kozhikode city was vandalised by a group of people who were protesting against “public display of affection” by some couples there.‘Kiss of Love' is a non-violent protest against moral policing in Kerala.The entire controversy began when a Facebook page called 'Kiss of Love' was created asking the youth across the state to participate in a protest against moral policing.The protest was organised by a group of youngsters in Kochi on November 2 against vandalism by few right-wing activities at a coffee shop in Kozhikode town. A peaceful march was planned from the campus of Ernakulam Law College to Marine Drive in Cochin. Nearly 50 activists were taken into preventive custody citing law and order issues.A coffee shop in Kozhikode was vandalised in the last week of October alleging immoral activities inside the shop.The movement received widespread support with more than 90,000 likes for the Facebook page. After the incident of vandalisation, a group of youths led by short filmmaker Rahul Pasupalan created the Facebook page.The demonstration also received opposition and criticism from different quarters of the society including various religious and political groups. Opposing groups claimed that public display of affection is against the Indian culture and also against the law of the land under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).According to reports, Jai Hind TV, a Malayalam news channel, had first telecasted an exclusive report on alleged immoral activity at the parking space of Downtown Cafe in Kozhikode.The video showed a young couple kissing and hugging each other. Following this, a mob of attackers vandalized the cafe in the town.There were several instances of moral policing in Kerala in the past few years. In 2011, a 26-year-old youth was killed by a mob in Kodiyathur for allegedly having an affair with a married woman. All accused in the case were awarded life imprisonment in October this year.In April 2013, an artist from Kochi was harassed by two policewomen when she went for a stroll on Marine Drive with a male friend. In July 2013, Police arrested a couple from a beach in Alappuzha for immoral activity.In June 2014, a female theatre artist and her male co-artist were arrested for traveling together during night.In solidarity with those who courted police action during the ‘Kiss of Love' in Kochi, several group of students in different part of the country organised similar events.In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, several students organised demonstration in support of the ‘Kiss of Love' campaign in Kerala. Police here registered cases against the organisers of 'Kiss of Love' campaign on the University of Hyderabad campus for 'obscene act'.Kolkata also hosted two separate events for the same cause. Students of Jadavpur University (JU) and Presidency University took out procession march to lodge their protest.Students form a human chain and walk from the university premises to finally engage in ‘kissing, hugging, showering affection on each other through whichever way we feel comfortable and consent to'.It should be noted that the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court have made it clear that kissing in public is not an obscene act and no criminal proceedings can be initiated.