POEM OR SONG OF THE DAY!

আবর্জনাগুলি বর্জিত নই 
স্নাত ছায়া নিরব নির 
সব বর্জিত ছুটির সকালে 
ফিরে চওয়া ঘন মেঘের আড়ালে 
আত্মবিশ্বাসের তিল অফ ভয়েস 
 আবর্জনাগুলি বর্জিত নই 

আসলে সত্য  বলে কিছু নেই

জীবন যখন অভিনয় করে না সে আমি সেই 
তাই তো অতীতের সবটুকু হালকা বৃষ্টি 
হাত ধরে মোর আত্মবিশ্বাসের ভারী সৃষ্টি 

আমি ও বৃষ্টি 
নই অনা সৃষ্টি 
সব   আবর্জনাগুলি বর্জিত নই

নই অনূন্তত বাহাদুরির ইন্দ্রজালে 
তাই তবুও সব হারানোর মোর  বাসকালে
আজ পারি দেব অজানা আকাশে 
সবটুকু হালকা বৃষ্টি তে 
ফিরিয়া দেবার আশায় 
কামনা বাসনা বর্জিত সকালে 
তবু সব আবর্জনা গুলি বর্জিত নই.

Kiss of Love protest

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kiss of Love protest
Date	2 November 2014 - ongoing
Location	Marine Drive, Kochi
Causes	multiple instances of moral policing in Kerala
Methods	protest by kissing, hugging and holding hands
Casualties
Arrested	around 50
Charged	around 1000

Kiss of Love protest is a non-violent protest against moral policing in Kerala.^[1][2] The movement began when a Facebook page called 'Kiss of love' asked the youth across Kerala to participate in a protest against moral policing on November 2 at Marine Drive, Cochin.^[3][4] The movement received widespread support with more than 90000 likes for the Facebook page.^[5][6] It also received opposition and critisicm from a part of the society and various religious and political groups, including Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, SDPI, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and Ernakulam wing of Kerala Students Union.^{[7][8][9][10]} These opposing groups claimed that public display of affection is against both Indian culture and law of the land under section 294 of the Indian Penal Code,^[11] even though both the Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court have made it clear that kissing in public is not an obscene act and no criminal proceedings can be initiated, for kissing in public, through landmark judgments.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} Even Kerala State Women's Commission opposed Kiss of Love stating that it is against the culture of Kerala^[17][18]

Contents

• 1 Background
• 2 Outcome
• 3 Legality
• 4 Further Activities
• 5 Events Outside Kerala
• 6 References

Background

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, Kerala for allegedly having an affair with a married woman.^[19] All of the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2014.^[20] In June 2014, a female theatre artist and her male co-artist were detained in police custody for traveling together during night, which stirred protests against moral policing on social media.^[21] In July 2013, Police arrested a couple from a beach in Alappuzha for suspected “immoral activity” as the woman was not wearing any accessories to suggest that she was married.^[22] 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.^[23] In June 2012, a gang of men attacked and beat up a pregnant woman sitting alone in a bus shelter in Kannur while the woman's husband was in an ATM nearby and had asked her to rest since she was heavily pregnant.^[24] In June 2011, An IT professional, on her way to work at Kochi's IT park, is accosted by a group of drunken men because she was riding pillion on a male colleague's bike. The drunken men argued, abused and then slapped her.^[25] Several similar cases have been reported throughout kerala.^[25]
The Kiss of Love protest was sparked in October 2014, when Jai Hind TV, a Malayalam news channel owned by Indian National Congress, telecasted an exclusive report on alleged immoral activity at the parking space of Downtown Cafe in Kozhikode.^[26] The video showed a young couple kissing and hugging each other.^[27] A mob of attackers, who were later identified as belonging to Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha vandalized the cafe following the report. Activists from all over Kerala decided to protest against the series of moral policing incidents by organizing a public event at Marine Drive beach on November 2 in Kochi.^[28]

Outcome

On 2 November, several activists gathered at Marine Drive, Kochi to express solidarity to the movement against moral policing. A peaceful march was planned from the campus of Ernakulam Law College to the venue^[29] during which the police took around 50 activists into preventive custody^[30] citing law and order issues. Various religious and political groups also gathered in the protest ground to physically prevent the activists from kissing and hugging in public.^[31]
Kerala Police was criticized for its failure to control the whole event.^[32][33] Police did not try to stop the counter protestors from entering the protest venue even though many of the Shiv Sainiks were armed with canes to attack and forcefully remove the Kiss of Love protestors.^[34] Also, none of the counter protestors, belonging to various groups like SDPI, Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal, were removed even though they tried to physically stop the Kiss of Love protestors from legally^{[12][13][15][16]} protesting.^[33][35] Police later claimed that they arrested the Kiss of Love protestors to save the protestors' lives^[36]

Legality

Section 294(a) of Indian Penal Code states that "Whoever, to the annoyance of others, does any obscene act in any public place shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both.^[37] The meaning of the word 'obscene' is not given in IPC, hence it is interpreted differently by different authorities. But, with regards to kissing and hugging in public places, the Supreme Court of India has made it clear that 'no case can be made out' of two people consensually hugging and/or kissing.^[12][13] Supreme Court gave this verdict in response to a petition filed by actor Richard Gere to quash the arrest warrant issued by a Jaipur court. The arrest warrant was issued after the actor had taken Shilpa Shetty in his embrace and kissed her on the cheek at an AIDS awareness programme.^[38][39] A verdict by Delhi High Court has also made it clear that kissing in public is not a criminal offence^[40]

Further Activities

The protest was very popular in social networking sites and news media.^[5][6] The opposing groups allegedly made the Facebook authorities to block the Kiss of Love FB page through mass reporting^[41] on November 3.^[42] The profile pages of all of the administrators were blocked as well. One of the administrators said that the page had 50,000 members at the time of blocking. The page was reinstated later that day and the number of members soon crossed 75,000.^[43] Supporters of the campaign have been posting pictures of them kissing in social network sites.^[44]

Events Outside Kerala

The event gathered support from educational institutions outside of Kerala including University of Hyderabad, JNU Delhi, IISER Kolkata and IIT Bombay.^{[17][45][46][47]} Students from Jadavpur University and Presidency University, Kolkata have organised similar protests against moral policing in Kolkata on 5 November 2014.^[48][49] The Kolkata chapter also protested against the authorities of north Kolkata’s Star theatre, for allegedly refusing entry to a 17-year-old girl as she was dressed in a skirt.^[50]