KOZHIKODE: The ‘Kiss of Love’ campaign, an offshoot of the attack by moral police goons on the ‘Down Town’ restaurant here on October 23, will make its appearance here on Sunday.
The campaign, which created waves among the youth across the nation, including Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kochi, has undergone a political metamorphosis.
The Yuva Morcha, the Sangh outfit that attacked the restaurant, had alleged that the hotel was facilitating immoral activities.
From an agitation to assert the freedom of youngsters to ‘sit together, hug and kiss,’ the movement has become political. Activists K. Venu, Ajitha, social critic Civic Chandran, screenplay writer Deedi Damodaran and many others have expressed solidarity with the movement during various discussions and open forums heralding the run-up to the ‘Kiss of Love.’
Addressing a seminar here, Mr K. Venu said that he never dreamt of such a civil resistance from the youth against social oppression.
“It is the continuity of social reformation launched by various progressive forces in the past,” he added. However, the police have decided to maintain caution this time due to the presence of many political activists and groups.
“We have been telling that Maoists are behind it. Our findings were true,” said an official who preferred anonymity.
It may be recalled that the police had been trying hard to put the Maoist tag on the movement from its beginning itself in Kochi.
The seriousness of a series of events organized in the city, discussion forums, seminars, night walk of women on the beach are not just an emotional outburst or surge of immature young minds, but a result of deliberate planning, it is believed.
Mr Civic Chandran told Deccan Chronicle that the movement had changed much in its journey from Kochi to Kozhikode.
“Now it also addresses some intellectual as well as aesthetic issues,” he said and added that realizing the transformation of the movement, many groups, including KSU, SDPI and Solidarity, which once opposed the movement, have backed out. Only the Yuva Morcha remained in the opposition, he pointed out.
