Kiss of love protest 2014 in Kerala at Ernakulam

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

is a politically-active society in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, with a politically active and aware population. Many of the news events happening in Kerala is related to the political events happening in the state.

Hartals

A record total of 223

hartal Hartal () is a term in many Indian languages for a strike action that was first used during the Indian independence movement (also known as the nationalist movement) of the early 20th century. A hartal is a mass protest, often involving a total sh ...

s were observed in 2006. There were around 363 "

Hartal Hartal () is a term in many Indian languages for a strike action that was first used during the Indian independence movement (also known as the nationalist movement) of the early 20th century. A hartal is a mass protest, often involving a total sh ...

s", called by different political parties, between 2005 and 2012. Hartals are called for various political, economic and social reasons.

Political violence

Between 2000 and 2017, Kerala reported at least 80 political murders. The state also reported the third-highest number of murders committed (12) due to political reasons in 2015, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data of that year. In the last 17 years, 85 CPM workers, 65 RSS or BJP workers, 11 workers of Congress and IUML each have been killed - mostly by their political rivals. Between 2000 and 2016, Kannur district in Kerala reported 69 political murders, with RSS losing almost as many workers as CPM, according to ''The Hindustan Times.'' Kannur is considered to be a bastion of Kerala’s communist movement since the 1930s. The district is the homeland of communist veterans like

A. K. Gopalan Ayillyath Kuttiari Gopalan (1 October 1904 – 22 March 1977), popularly known as A. K. Gopalan or AKG, was an Indian communist politician. He was one of 16 Communist Party of India members elected to the first Lok Sabha in 1952. Later he beca ...

, E. K. Nayanar and

Azhikodan Raghavan Azhikodan Raghavan was a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). Personal life He was born on 1 July, 1919, in South Bazar, Kannur. Political life In 1940, he was groomed into a true communist by comrades P. Krishna Pil ...

. Kannur is said to be the state’s most violent territory – more so with the advent of the RSS in the 1960s. Clashes between the RSS and the CPI(M) have claimed over 300 lives since 1969. Most of the victims in political are from the Chekavar community, which a branch of the Thiyya caste.

Political murders after 2010

Kiss of Love protest

Kiss of Love protest was a non-violent protest against moral policing, which started in

, and later spread to other parts of

. The movement began when a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page called 'Kiss of love' called forth the youth across Kerala to participate in a protest against moral policing on 2 November 2014, at Marine Drive,

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. The movement received widespread support with more than 154,404 'Likes' for the Facebook page.https://www.facebook.com/kissoflovekochi: After the initial protest in Kochi, similar protests were organised in other major cities of the country. It received opposition from various religious and political groups like Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha,

SDPI The Social Democratic Party of India, popularly known as SDPI, is an Indian political party which was founded on 21 June 2009 in New Delhi. The party is considered the political wing of the banned Islamic organization Popular Front of India (PF ...

Vishva Hindu Parishad The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to ...

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena ( IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...

Bajrang Dal The Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was ...

Hindu Sena The Hindu Sena (; ), is an Indian right-wing organization, founded on 10 August 2011 by Vishnu Gupta, who is also its current leader. It has been described as a "fringe right-wing organization". The Sena organized a birthday party for Dona ...

and

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...

wing of Kerala Students Union.http://www.deccanchronicle.com/141103/nation-current-affairs/article/kiss-love-protest-police-blamed-giving-free-hand-miscreants: On specific occasions but not exclusively, both the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

and

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

have made it clear that kissing in public is not an obscene act and no criminal proceedings can be initiated, for kissing in public, through landmark judgments.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Kissing-in-public-by-married-couple-not-obscene-HC/articleshow/4066941.cms: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090218/jsp/opinion/story_10552589.jsp:

Legal remedies

In 2015, the provincial government in Kerala introduced a law that tried to control hartals and bandhs. According to this new bill, a notification of three days is required for any public agitation. The draft gives the government powers to cancel a strike announced by any party. A punishment of six months' imprisonment is included in the draft bill.

Leftist inclination

The social thought and behavior of the State in general has a strong inclination towards Leftism and thus the Communist parties have made strong inroads in Kerala. Kerala was the first Indian state where the communists were voted to power.Snapshots - India's final voting day BBC News
/ref> The Malabar region, particularly

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

and

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

are considered to heartland of Communist parties. The

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...

and Alapuzha districts, where trade unions have very strong presence, are generally inclined towards the Left parties; though the Congress-led UDF have won elections from the constituencies of these districts several times. The largest Communist party in terms of membership is CPI(M) followed by

CPI A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time. Overview A CPI is a statistic ...

History

Hartals in 2018

References

* * {{Kerala topics