Kerala Student's 'Sit-On-Lap' Movement Against Moral Policing Is Winning Massive Support

Kerala students sit on lap of each other on bus stand as they protest against moral policing of people who had problem with boys and girls sitting together. While the 'sit-on-lap' protest gets appreciation from Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram, the public is not that happy.

Students are often judged and criticised for their friend circle and being friendly with the opposite gender. The narrow minded society has all sorts of advices for them like don't stand or sit too close, don't touch each other, don't party with the opposite gender among many regressive directions. Replying to these irritating comments in the most befitting way, the students of Kerala's engineering college started sitting on each other's lap as a protest to the idea of moral policing.

Kerala Students Sit On Lap To Protest Against Moral Policing

Students of Thiruvananthapuram's College of Engineering Trivandrum recently posted pictures online where boys and girls can be seen sitting on each other's lap at a bus stop. The bus stop bench was deliberately cut into three small seats allegedly to prevent boys and girls from sitting together. The incident came to the notice of the Mayor of the city, Arya S Rajendran, who supported the step taken by the students and even visited the area on July 21. On further investigation, it was found that the stop also had clearance issues with the Public Works Department and was unauthorised.

The students claimed that the locals, most of them with old-fashioned thinking, used to police them everyday whenever they saw girls and boys together. On being questioned, the local authorities said that the bench at the bus stand was not altered because of students but due to COVID-19 restrictions and for practicing social distancing. They said that the bus stand was in a bad condition and hence, the reconstruction happened. However, they agreed that they didn't like students sitting at the bus stand during day and even night. They reportedly said that the stop was for people to wait for the bus and if girls and boys want to sit together, they should do so in college campus.

The Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist), has called such people, who don't want to see girls boys mingle, a danger to the society. The Mayor later on posted on her social media and deemed the act as 'unbecoming of a progressive society'. She called the student's reaction as 'responsive' and the hope of the future and assured that the local authorities are with them and they plan on building a gender neutral bus stand with modern facilities very soon for the facility of students.

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