No 'love' for India

A rally in India planned to protest the country's restrictive morality code was shut down before it even began, with police making several "preventative arrests" on Sunday, November 2.

The "kiss of love" protest was to be held in the southern city of Kochi's popular shopping area, Marine Drive. The event's Facebook page, which had garnered around 63,000 likes and widespread support from local writers and activists, had called for people to gather "in the name of love." Couples were to start assembling in different parts of the city from 4 PM. The groups would then march to the meeting spot and stage a mass rally.

But authorities moved in quickly as participants began to gather, putting people into police vans. Around 32 people were taken into custody, although some witness reports put that number closer to 50. A statement released by the Kochi police said they had made the arrests in order "to maintain law and order."

Couples were encouraged to hold hands, hug, kiss or do whatever they felt comfortable with. But the campaign had also angered many conservative sectors of Indian society, with several Hindu and Muslim groups in particular decrying the rally as shameful and saying it was part of a "love jihad."

Members of several student unions and groups such as the Hindu nationalist organization Shiv Sena even held their own "anti-kiss of love" demonstrations, and harassed those involved in the protest action. Some "kiss of love" volunteers complained that police allowed the march to be overrun by opponents to the event, and arresting people was an overreaction.

Some of the couples arrested continued to kiss in the police vans as they were driven away, as well as inside the police station.

A local restaurant was also attacked after showing footage of young couples kissing broadcast by a private TV channel.

Vowing to continue

Police had warned organizers not to go ahead with the demonstration, saying they didn't want the group to "create law and order problems." But the organizers said they would carry on with preparations regardless, and were expecting between 250 and 1000 couples to show up. Despite the smaller number of participants, with the threat of violence keeping many away, thousands of onlookers turned up, curious to witness the spectacle.

The organizers of "kiss of love" have vowed to keep on fighting for the right to kiss and touch in public.

They say they are already planning their next action, designed to raise awareness about AIDS.

The protests came after a Hindu group allegedly vandalized a coffee shop in the nearby city of Kozhikode, which they claimed was being used as an area for young students to go on dates.

Shows of affection are frowned upon in India, and there have been several instances of "morality policing" where couples have been harassed and even fined for holding hands or kissing in public.

India has been under scrutiny for its treatment of women in recent years, since a 23-year-old woman was gang raped on a bus in 2012. She died of her injuries a few days later.