Kiss against Fascism, the third edition of Kerala’s “Kiss of love” protest against moral policing and cultural fascism, ended before it started at Alappuzha beach on Sunday afternoon with the police taking the activists into preventive custody fearing law and order problems as “moralists” gathered on the spot in large numbers to protest against the programme.
Over 1,000 police personnel headed by Inspector General (Central Zone) MR Ajithkumar had been deployed in Alappuzha town and at the beach allegedly considering Intelligence reports about possibility of large-scale violence. Kiss of love protests at Kochi in November and Kozhikode last month had ended in tension and violence as “moralists” attacked kissers. The police took the kissers into custody despite the permission they themselves had given for the programme to be held for two hours starting 2 pm on Sunday. Ajithkumar said the police resorted to arresting the kissers as well as the protesting “moralists” as there was real fear that the situation could go out of control any moment.
The Kiss against Fascism organisers, supported by about ten pro-left outfits including the Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, had planned an Open forum for discussions on moral policing, dances, songs and kissing and hugging as part of the programme but none of this took place as the police removed the activists just after 3.00 PM. Only a very small number of kiss protesters had arrived at Alappuzha beach when the police intervened. However, Kiss of love activists managed to hold kiss-and-hug protest at Kidungamparambu in Alappuzha town, some five kilometres away, as the police kept themselves busy at the beach.
“We don’t consider this as a defeat. It is indeed a victory for us. We have succeeded in proving that fascists have already taken over the public cultural space of Kerala and the Government and the police are now standing before them with trembling knees. It is cultural Kerala which is being defeated,” said Kiss of love activist lazar Shine. The concept of Kiss of love was first put forward by a Facebook group named Free Thinkers as a form of protest against moral policing after a group of Yuva Morcha activists allegedly vandalized a new-generation coffee shop in Kozhikode city on October 23 alleging that immoral activities were taking place there.
The first Kiss of love protest programme was held in Kerala at Marine Drive in Kochi on November 2 but the event ended in tension as thousands of “moralists” from different religions and youth organizations gathering there to oppose acts of “cultural anarchy” and “vulgarity”. The police had to arrest scores of kissers to bring the situation under control. The second edition of the Kiss protest programme named Kiss of love 2.0 Malabar was held at Kozhikode had seen clashes between “moralists” and protestors and noted scriptwriter Didi Damodaran was among the kissers who were attacked. The police had also taken an obvious anti-kissers stand during the Kozhikode event.