Kiss of change

The “Kiss of Love” drive in Kochi to protest against moral policing may have petered out, with the police taking into preventive custody a handful of citizens who tried to take out a march at Marine Drive on Sunday. The effort may, however, have helped put the spotlight on several instances of moral policing that have taken place around the country in the form of loud and even violent expressions of intolerance of the way some other people like to live their lives.

The police action may have been taken on the premise that any publicised public display of affection to get even with the moral police may lead to a potential law and order situation. The high court had no view on the matter, which means the police force is to blame for not allowing even a peaceful protest against events like the vandalising of a coffee shop in Kerala’s Kozhikode.

Netizens who promoted the idea of a “love march” may have been spurred by the desire to spread the message that the India of today is a far more liberal place than the sexually-repressed society that we were not so long ago. While there may be pockets of liberal outlooks in any city, particularly in younger people, we still have to deal with conservative and even reactionary attitudes.

The generational gap cannot be covered in a day and the succeeding generations must understand that even if they have a fight on their hands they cannot wage a war to put their message across. India is changing, but, as in dealing with everything else in the country, patience is the foremost virtue.
The India of the future will be even more liberal than it is today. Of that there need be no doubt.