““Kiss of Love Protest”, we are not going to make it a routine. It is just a protest. When Mahatma Gandhi organized “Non-corporation movement”, he did not mean that Indian people will never co-operate with rulers. Hunger strike does not mean that people will continue to remain without food. These are all methods of protest. Kiss of Love is also a protest.”
This was what the new generation talk about the movement which is catching fire at different parts of the country. They say that they have the right to decide with whom they want to intimately mingle at public places.
This all started with a group of people supposed to be belonging to a Hindu right wing movement, opposed young people meeting in a hotel at Kozhikode. These protesters crash landed in this hotel and destroyed furniture and beaten couples eating food there. They claimed that the hotel allowed young people to sit in compromising or compassionate positions in the hotel.
Then a group of people, not necessarily visitors to this hotel opened a facebook page called “Kiss of Love” and asked young people to assemble at Marine Drive, Kochi on November 2 to protest against moral policing by publically hugging and kissing. This movement was then hijacked by different groups. On November 2, nearly 30 young people assembled at Marine Drive, Kochi to protest by “Kiss of Love” and another 30,000 people assembled there to see the protest. What happened on that day is now history.
The movement is now spreading to various parts of the country. It may be worthwhile to pause for a moment and think what is it all about?
The youth of the country wanted the freedom to express affections publicly as in other developed countries. I appreciate their interest and support their movement. But I have some points to explain. I want the young generation to remember a proverb in Malayalam, “ഇരുന്നിട്ട് വേണം കാലുനീട്ടാന്”, it means you need to first sit to stretch both legs together.
We need to travel lot of distance to reach the freedom to express love by hugging and kissing publicly. We are living in a society where we do not do it even in our homes in front of others. You need not worry about the 30 people you saw for protest at Marine Drive, Kochi. The culprits are the 30,000 assembled to watch the protest. These are the representatives of our society. They just watch the fun. They neither participate in the protest nor oppose the movement. It is the mindset of these people we need to change.
In India even today, most of the marriages are arranged marriages. People oppose love marriages even within the same community and social status. Caste and community based professions existed in earlier days. It was necessary to have marriages between families. Now things have changed. People are choosing new professions. Hence caste, community, religion are not having much influence in our life. We started working with people of different religion and from different areas of the country. The technology had developed. We use the technology for online matrimonial searches. The parents still search for matches in the same caste, community and religion.
In my opinion, before the public display of hugging and kissing, we need to change the way we marry. Today’s youth decides the profession they want to follow. They decide their job and work place. When it comes to marriage, they say our parents are searching for a match. Change this attitude. Choose your partner. This is your fundamental right. The person with whom you are going to live with must be your choice. I see young people spend lot of time before choosing their dresses. Trial rooms are common in malls selling readymade dresses. Young people line up in front of the trial rooms. Something you will wear for few days is selected with such care and affection. Then why the choice of your life partner is left to all others to decide. Change this culture. This is the only way you can change the attitude of the people.
Nafeesa kissing Arun Nair publicly or Jacob Mathew hugging Latha Menon publicly will not change the mind set of people. If you want to change, tell your parents to accept them as your life partners. Let us have a society where religion, caste, sub-caste and community do not interfere with your choice of partner for life. If people from different religion, caste and community can work together in different work places, ministries and national missions, they can work together and build families also. Accept this change first. Once we understand man and women are the only two divisions God made and the rest of the divisions were made by those who are ruling us, the change will come automatically. Don’t build the top floor without building the foundation. First you change and then expect the society to change. There is no point in these 30 people publicly hugging or kissing, as long as 30,000 assemble only to watch the fun.
Some related links are
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/We-took-kiss-of-love-activists-into-custody-to-save-their-lives/articleshow/45043053.cms
Dr Pozhath Narayanan Kutty 