Bangalore Police refuse permission for ‘Kiss of Love’

The ‘Kiss of love’ was first held in Cochin, Kerala to protest against moral policing on November 2, 2014. It was then held in other cities across the country, despite receiving threats from conservative partiers. Recently, 'Kiss of Love' was announced  in Bangalore and was scheduled to be held on 25^th November (also celebrated as the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women.) However, the Bangalore Police officially denied permission for the event.

Rachita Taneja, a human rights activist had reportedly approached the police seeking permission for holding the protest in the city. According to a report by The New Indian Express, the police sought some clarifications from Taneja, which she was unable to provide. The Bangalore police commissioner MN Reddi in a statement gave his reasons.

He said, “We have considered Rachita Taneja’s reply to our questions. We undertsand the kiss of love campaign has been conducted held in Kerala, Delhi and Goa. Many untoward incidents have occurred at these places. According to section 294a of the IPC obscenity in public is an offence. There are chances of obscenity if we permit the kiss of love event. We have provisions to prevent such events like 65D of the Karnataka Police Act. We have rejected Rachita Taneja’s request and have refused permission for the campaign.”

The New Indian Express>

What is worth noting is the fact that the Supreme Court (after an incident that occurred when Hollywood Star Richard Gere kissed Indian actress Shilpa Shetty on the cheek at a public event,) stated that kissing in public is not illegal, according to law. Despite this, every city that held these protests faced severe resistance.

According to the supporters, Taneja has been unavailable since, and has not returned calls from them. This has left many disappointed, however according to Hindustan Times’ report, a senior police official said Taneja plans to now hold the protest on the 30^th of November.