Seems like the Indian youth has found a new cause to further its fight against violent forms of social repression as it takes stand against moral policing. The protests, which so far have been in the form of public display of affection like hugging or kissing demonstrations in the face of authorities, haven’t caused any mass furore. But, as the volunteers maintain, they got their point duly noted.
The so called “Kiss of Love” movement started when some activists in Kochi decided to lodge their protests against the vandalization of a cafe’ in Kozhikode by BJP workers alleging “Immoral activities”. In Kolkata, on November 7, 2014, some 300 students from Javadpur and Presidency Universities also staged demonstrations in college campuses and some 50 volunteers staged protests at the gates of RSS headquarters in Delhi.
So far the movement has received mixed response. Satyani, a PHD student proclaims, “Time has come to safeguard our freedom of expression”. Whereas, Professor Amitav Gupta, JU though empathises with the cause, finds the protests silly. Prabir Mukherjee, a professor at PU finds the protests offensive and vulgar.
(Kochi to Kolkata: ‘Kiss of love’ unites students, divides teachers – See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/kochi-to-kolkata-kiss-of-love-unites-students-divides-teachers/#sthash.uYh0ghF4.dpuf, 2014)
So, what we have is two sides crying foul, one rising concerns over encroachment of liberty in the name of moral policing and the other disgruntled over denigration of Indian values and norms by western culture. The critical question in such a scenario should be:”In the developed India that we look forward to, which side seems to occupy the prominent place?”
In reply, a case can be made out of U.S. transformation from a conservative, early 20th century nation to the techno economic giant of 21st century, equally pushing for libertarian, human rights based agenda. The present Indian youth, eager and impatient to leave their mark on the globe aren’t going to compromise with the notions of liberty and freedom to make choices for themselves.
But they need to learn to accommodate to the cultural sensitivities of common people who have been raised within security of cultural conformities. Change, doesn’t happen in a day. It’s a gradual process which takes time. At the same time, political outfits which have a knack of cracking down on people allegedly misusing their freedom need to tone their acts down and calibrate to the new social order which emphasizes on values of tolerance and openness to new ideas and alternate style of livings.
And, hopefully then we can look forward to the nation of our dreams, a nation advanced in every domain and where being modern is cherishing the treasure of Indian values as well as sustaining an open, liberal mindset.
Utkarsh Jaiswal
MBA-IT
IIIT Allahabad