Recently protest movement against moral policing, "Kiss of Love" was in the news. This protest was given this name because people decided to kiss each other as a form of protest against moral policing. Interestingly, this protest started in the state of Kerala and rapidly spread to other parts of India. As expected many organizations associated with Hinduism and Islam opposed these protests calling them against Indian culture and a violation of the civic code of conduct. Moral policing is not a new phenomenon in any country, some fanatic, self-declared culture protectors try to impose moral or cultural values which they think are right. These organizations don't care whether it is legal or illegal to impose these things on other people against their will, they do it in the name of protecting ancient culture or traditions. Very often protests like Kiss of Love are blamed on the influence of Western culture, however, ironically India is the country that has produced works of Khajuraho and texts like Kamasutra. The extreme response of these organizations to these protests is not surprising to me but their violent reactions and justifications offered for such violent attacks are major concerns.
Actually, protests like Kiss of Love are not in any way an attack on any culture. These protests are not meant to insult anyone or hurt anyone but this is a way of protesting against unjust moral policing. This protest is a simple way of conveying the message that you can't force your values on others. If someone is breaking the law arrest them and punish them legally, torturing them or harassing them in public is not the solution or a way to protect any culture. Moral values differ from person to person, for some eating non-vegetarian food can be an immoral thing to do, but that doesn't mean they go and beat all people who choose to eat non-vegetarian food. They have the right to propagate the benefits of vegetarian food and the drawbacks of non-vegetarian food but they don't have any right to force their dietary choices on others. In the same way, someone might think females not wearing a burqa is an immoral thing, or drinking alcohol is a sin, or eating beef or pork is a sin, these people are entitled to have whatever beliefs they want but they have no right to force it on others. There is a machinery and system in every state and country to take care of things that are against the law and let them do their job. In a democracy, people even have the right to protest peacefully against any law if they feel it is an unjust law. Peaceful protests, debates, and discussions are signs of a healthy and inclusive society. Moral policing is not a sign of a progressive, tolerant, and open society rather it is a sign of a regressive, intolerant, and backward society. India claims itself to be a very tolerant and progressive country so people should be ashamed of such attacks on the personal liberty of people in their own country.
Indian culture or for that matter any culture is not so weak that it can be threatened by people kissing in public. It is the same culture that has produced Khajuraho temples and books like Kamasutra, so why such a violent stand against a mere protest? And if any culture has some bad elements or repressive traditions then what is wrong in changing those traditions? What is wrong in protesting against any regressive practices that are still practiced? Such protests should be welcomed rather than condemning them, and any attack on personal liberty should be opposed. I hope these types of protests are taken in the right spirit rather than considering them as an attack on any culture. Individual liberty is a very important aspect of any society. I hope individual liberty and fundamental rights are respected and protected, if not then as a society we should be ready to witness many more such protests. Let's see how many attempts are made to crush such protests and what is the ultimate result of such bold protests.
Indian culture or for that matter any culture is not so weak that it can be threatened by people kissing in public. It is the same culture that has produced Khajuraho temples and books like Kamasutra, so why such a violent stand against a mere protest? And if any culture has some bad elements or repressive traditions then what is wrong in changing those traditions? What is wrong in protesting against any regressive practices that are still practiced? Such protests should be welcomed rather than condemning them, and any attack on personal liberty should be opposed. I hope these types of protests are taken in the right spirit rather than considering them as an attack on any culture. Individual liberty is a very important aspect of any society. I hope individual liberty and fundamental rights are respected and protected, if not then as a society we should be ready to witness many more such protests. Let's see how many attempts are made to crush such protests and what is the ultimate result of such bold protests.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]
The society is hypocritical and jealous!
ReplyDeleteHey Vinay, I personally have two different opinions on the issues and so would like to share them with you.
ReplyDeleteNo. 1 - I don't believe moral policing would help. There is individual freedom. Then there are so many flagrant issues to be dealt with like rape, eve-teasing, corruption, drug-trafficking, child labour. Why not police them instead? They are issues which require more concern. And there are so many beer bars and wine shops in India. Is drinking alcohol what Indian culture permits? Why don't they do moral policing there? Sometime back cigarette smoking was barred in public places. There are still some people who smoke in public places. Why not moral police them?
Moral policing is easier. Because most of the victims are youngsters and they are easy prey for such moral police. It is time they open their eyes wide enough to see issues which require more attention.
No. 2 - For any society there have to be certain restrictions. e.g. You have freedom to wear anything but that does not mean you have freedom to roam around naked (barring children). If we allow kissing in public today (which I think is ok) people might go a step further tomorrow and demand more. There might be caressing and cuddling and intimacy in public places (which is still there I know but it not so unrestricted). Is the matter going to stop at kissing or the people might go further tomorrow and demand more so that the 'Kiss of Love' becomes 'Intimacy of Love'?
I know I have posed 2 opposite views but I think there has to be limited freedom. The problem is where to draw the line.
- Anita
Thank you Anita for sharing your views on this topic. I can understand what you want to say. There is no doubt that individual freedom or liberty is basic necessity or sign of any progressive, tolerant and open society but liberty or freedom comes with responsibility. There is no meaning of freedom without any responsibility, I also agree that there should be some code of conduct followed by everyone when they are at public places and it is individuals responsibility to follow it.
DeleteI think Kiss of love is just a symbolic protest where people are doing this act to register their protest against aggressive (and some times brutal) moral policing by some of these so called cultural organizations. We can argue if this mode of protest is right or wrong but the point here is first offer individual liberty and then make them aware of the responsibilities which come along with it. As long as there is attack on individual freedom of people we are going to witness protests like this in some form.
I only hope that both sides understand that problems and differences can be resolved via dialogues and discussions. Protesters registered their point by staging the protest now there should be a peaceful dialogue to resolve the problem, it can not go like this forever.
We already have laws to restrict nudity and other indecent acts in public and as I said rest is on individuals to follow the etiquette and code of conduct in public life. Every individual needs to decide what is good for him/her and as a society our job should be to spread that awareness that people also learn about their responsibilities along with their rights, if we can do this I think we can solve the problem to large extent. Thanks again for sharing your views.