2 min readBangaloreNov 25, 2014 09:36 PM IST
First published on: Nov 25, 2014 at 09:34 PM IST
The Bangalore city police have officially denied permission for the conduct of a proposed Kiss of Love event in the city. A group of liberal activists had sought permission for the conduct of a controversial Kiss of Love event, on the lines of similar events held in Kochi and Delhi, to protest against moral policing campaigns by conservative groups including fundamental Hindu and Muslim groups. Bangalore police commissioner MN Reddi said on Tuesday that the police have denied permission for the Kiss of Love event to prevent untoward incidents from occurring in the city during conduct of the campaign event. A human rights activist Rachita Taneja had recently approached the police seeking permission for holding a Kiss of Love event in Bangalore city.
The police sought clarifications on how many people would participate, where it would be held and on who would take responsibility if any untoward incidents were to occur. Taneja reportedly did not give satisfactory clarifications other than indicating that the event would be held between 4 pm to 5 pm on Sunday November 30 at the Town Hall. She also told the police that she would not take responsibility for any untoward incidents. She also could not provide a figure of the number of people who would attend but indicated that had she invited people through social media and that it would be difficult as a result to find out the exact number of people who may participate in the event. The police decided to deny permission for the Kiss of Love event after considering the replies and requests to disallow the event made by various groups.
“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,” Reddi said. “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,” Reddi said.
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