Kochi: The controversial ‘Kiss of Love’ protest was mired in chaos as nearly 50 protesters were taken into preventive custody by the police even before the event began.
The police said the protesters were taken into preventive custody for disturbing law and order. Angry at the arrest of their fellow protesters, others mobbed the venue and began shouting slogans.
Kerala Director General of Police K S Balasubramanium said, “Police is doing its duty, right now we have taken around 50 supporters into preventive custody from the spot. There are also people who are protesting against this event. We are keeping an eye on the whole event.â€
The port city remained tense with suspected members of the Shiv Sena, Samastha Sunni Students Federation and other activist groups saying they would not let the event take place. Thousands of protesters blocked all roads leading to Kochi’s Marine Drive, the venue for ‘Kiss of Love’.
Around 1,000 policemen were deployed to prevent any untoward incident as those supporting the drive planned to march to the venue by 5:00 pm.
The campaign was launched on social media after a coffee shop in north Kerala’s Kozhikode city was vandalised recently by a group of people who criticised the public display of affection by some couples there.
A day after the Kerala High Court refused to intervene, the organisers said on Sunday they would go ahead with the protest, even as they were yet to get permission from the police.
Though the police denied permission for the event, they said they would only intervene if it created a law and order problem.
Stressing that it was “not a kiss fest” but a gathering of like-minded people to raise awareness against moral policing, the organisers said they would next focus on creating awareness about the deadly AIDS.
The event was organised by a Facebook group ‘Free Thinkers’.
“There is no question of backtracking. The protest will be held as scheduled at 5pm at the venue with participants holding placards,” Rahul Pasupalan, an IT professional and short film maker and Jijo Kuriakose, a researcher and members of ‘Free Thinkers’ told reporters earlier in the day.
“This is not a kiss fest. It is a gathering of like-minded people to protest against moral policing. We are independent thinkers and this is a gathering of the Facebook users,” they said, adding, “Young and old couple, parents and youngsters are all welcome to participate in the event, which is a platform to protest against moral policing.â€
Pointing out that kissing and hugging was only a form of agitation they had chosen to raise awareness against moral policing, Rahul said it was precisely due to the novel form of protest they had adopted that so much heat had been generated.
“Because we selected this form of protest, everyone is discussing it. We want to create an awareness against moral policing,” they said.Â