Kochi: The police on Sunday evening arrested the Organisers and sympathisers of Kiss of Love (KoL) event, who assembled near Law College and tried to march to the Marine drive grounds, venue of the symbolic protest against moral policing. Police had to resort to lathicharge after pro and anti-Kiss of Love activists came face to face near Ernakulam Law College in Kochi after the news of arrest went viral. The Kerala police had deployed a large number of personnel at the Marine Drive and nearby areas, as workers of various religious and political outfits gathered at the venue shouting slogans against the 'Kiss of Love' event. Many of these protesters had vowed to stop the event at any cost. The organisers tried to take out a march from Ernakulam Law college to the venue, but were prevented from doing so. About 50 persons were taken into custody, the police said. The arrests were made under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner of Police Nishanthini. According to the sources, the police are not sure if this is the only group taking part in the protest against moral policing. Holding placards and raising slogans against moral policing, the protestors were bundled into a police van, which gave our photographer the V-J Day in Times Square (by Alfred Eisenstaedt) kind of a moment. The organisers had expected nearly 1,000 people to turn up for the event, but the media hype generated saw the area overflowing with people, curious to see the unique protest and those against the event. In a last minute change, the organisers tried to take out a march from the Ernakulam law college at around 4.30pm to reach the Marine drive grounds, when they were stopped by police and taken into custody.
The programme scheduled earlier was that the event would be held at the grounds at 5pm. According to sources, the organisers of 'Kiss of Love' event even appealed to the participants to disperse, as the tension mounted at the venue. TV visuals showed that men wielding Shiv Sena flags attacked some of the pro-Kiss of Love activists. On Saturday, the organisers of 'Kiss of Love' protest had said that they would go ahead, even as they were yet to get permission from the police. Stressing that it was 'not a kiss fest' but a gathering of like-minded people to raise awareness against moral policing, they had said that they would focus next on creating awareness about the deadly AIDS. 'Free Thinkers', a group of users on the social networking website Facebook, was organising the programme at the Marine drive grounds to protest against moral policing.
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