A set of volunteers will today gather at the Marine Drive grounds in Kochi today to protest against the alleged moral policing by the Shiv Sena. The programme, titled ‘Kiss of Love', is being circulated on Facebook. The protest comes a day after a video showed alleged Shiv Sena members manhandling and chasing away couples from the same area in the city.
The call for the 'Kiss of Love' agitation comes amid ongoing protests by the DYFI and the SFI activists at Marine Drive. The Congress and its student wing KSU have also called for protest against Sena's alleged "moral policing".
The campaign involves volunteers coming to the Marine drive and hugging and kissing each other.
TV news channels had yesterday aired video footage showing a group of alleged Shiv Sena activists, marching, wielding sticks and chasing away young men and women from Marine Drive, a tourist spot. The incident had occurred allegedly in the presence of police.
Kochi Mayor Soumini Jain had condemned the incident and asked the police to take strong action against those involved.
Police said a central police sub-inspector was suspended yesterday for failing to stop the Shiv Sena's "moral policing" while eight police personnel, who were on duty when the incident occurred, were transfered to the Armed Reserve police camp.
A similar 'Kiss of Love' programme was held in Kochi in 2014 to protest vandalism by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha activists at a hotel in Kozhikode.
It was held amid protest by various outfits and those who participated were taken into custody.
Meanwhile, six activists of the Shiv Sena have been taken into custody in connection with yesterday's incident which has come in for condemnation from both the ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress.
